Chapter 35 first quarter
When Liu Kai returned home from Zuixinglou, a big red flyer, Cai Jing, the grand master of the state of Lu, came forward to pay homage to Xun Mu, and invited Liu Tai, the commander of the four chambers of the bodyguards, the army, the horse army, the dragon god and the guards, to come to visit us. The invitation to the banquet in the government is placed on the case like a brilliant and shining gem.The next day, Ma Kuo also received an invitation to invite Ma to attend the banquet.
Liu Kai is a celebrity in the official family and has a high status in the military. It is said that in future wars, he will serve as a liaison officer between the court and the front line.This, also according to rumors, was personally mentioned by the officials with Wang Fu, and confirmed by Wang Fu's biography, Tong Guan and Gao Qiu.Although Ma Kuo's position is low, his title of Hemen Xuanzansheren is still "false". Due to the need for envoys, the court gave him a more pleasant official title to enhance his speaking position. After the negotiation, this "false" "The title should be returned to the imperial court in principle, but he is the original team member who has always participated in the diplomatic negotiations of the Maritime Alliance. Tong Guan has already included him in the list of officials of the Xuanfu envoy.This is not based on rumors, Tong Guan has already told him face to face, it seems that he also seems to be a man of the moment.Both Liu Qi and Ma Kuo were related to the war against Liao, so they should attend the farewell banquet hosted by Cai Jing for Tong Guan, commander of the war against Liao.Although they don't like the host, guest of honor and theme of this banquet - the Peony Party, they have no right to refuse to attend the banquet.
Regarding the luxurious content and grand scale of this banquet, there have been various shocking legends in the Tokyo market these days.One of them was said in response to this invitation.It is said that someone is willing to bid fifty taels of silver, hoping to get an invitation.Others guessed that he couldn't afford the fifty taels, so they laughed at him and said: "With your elder brother's dignity, even if you get an invitation, you may not be able to enter the dignified prime minister's residence."
"Which way am I inferior to others?" He retorted angrily, "Is it missing an eye, or is there an extra nose? Isn't Xue Shangshu, a donkey with a big nose, going in and out of the prime minister's house every day! As the saying goes, 'Buddha needs gold clothes, people want clothes', I was born with big ears like this, and I spent another fifty taels of money on it. Longtu Pavilion is waiting for the check-in, and they come out to the banquet in a sedan chair, and I am afraid that Mr. Lao Gongxiang will come to the gate to welcome you in person! You Ba!" At this point, he seriously made a step out of the sedan chair door and The gestures of the princes to greet each other.It looks like a little dragon.Then he patted his pocket and said: "With this white and hard thing, there is heaven and hell, and there is still a place I can't go into? The jailer in charge of Tianmen has to stand in a shift and bow and wait when he sees me." Miles! Do you believe it?" This white, hard thing has always been awe-inspiring.At first people thought he was bluffing, but now that they heard similar voices twice, they no longer doubted that he would not be able to enter the prime minister's residence.Everyone shouted in unison: "You Ba, You Ba! Your Excellency is going to come to Dalukou to greet you, Old Brother Long!"
The white and hard things really worked in person. He only made a little noise, and he was promoted to the second rank, from a young dragon to an old dragon.
The news on the road added ten times the value to the banquet at the prime minister's mansion.
Of course, with Cai Jing's always generous means, and the fact that he and Tong Guan have supported each other for many years and have a very close friendship, it is by no means a surprise to hold a grand banquet for him.However, according to well-informed sources, this banquet has an extremely complicated and delicate political background, and it is by no means an ordinary social entertainment.He analyzed:
"It's true that Mr. Gongxiang has a lot of money, but don't forget that he is also famous for his shrewdness. His small calculations have been put into the home-brewed 'Hezhi' wine, which is sold in the market and sold every year. He is also very happy to give away a thousand taels of silver! The officials spend all their money on the edge of the knife, so he is willing to throw a lot of silver into the water? Besides, the two of them, the prince and the eunuch, fought fiercely in the early years. After the Nian broke up, the eunuch has already fallen to the side of Wang Dazai, and the public is at odds with the public. Even if the public is willing to spend money, is he willing to spend it on his enemy? This principle, if you think about it, you will understand the mechanism."
His analysis does make sense.
It turns out that Cai Jing became prime minister for the third time in the second year of Zhenghe.Cai Jing, who has been up and down repeatedly in his long-term official life, can be said to have been tempered to perfection, easily wiped out all political opponents, and once again climbed to the dangerous peak of the first assistant.He is a golden-headed fly who was lucky enough to fly into the caramel jar. If he could lick the candy in the jar for a lifetime, it would be a very satisfying thing, but he understood an unbreakable truth in officialdom, which is called "thinking of danger when you are high".He flew around the jar and there were many candidate flies. Whenever they got a chance, they would also get into the jar and work together to drive out the golden-headed fly inside and lick the sugar in the jar instead.He has to make every effort to keep this position, it is not as reliable as the iron bucket.
Sure enough, after a few years of peace, the first contestant officially appeared on the stage. This person was his virtuous man and eldest son, Cai You, a scholar of Xuanhe Palace.Domestic thieves are more hateful than foreign thieves, so he was particularly angry and surprised by this political opponent.In fact, there is nothing to be particularly angry about. Apart from being a son, the son also has all the conditions to be a political opponent, let alone under his training, education, and nurturing.The son has already learned a full set of skills to wipe out political enemies and open up ways to become mediocre.
This is plausible from the son's point of view, "Lang Ba" is always so fresh and healthy, like a green and shiny watermelon just plucked from the vine.He enjoys a health that borders on shamelessness, blocking his son's path to success.Son must take action to improve the situation.
At last the day came, and without prior contact, the son suddenly brought two imperial physicians, and in front of the public, they bowed their heads and ears to diagnose the pulse of the Lord-in-law. With a sad face, he said that things were very difficult.Then his son came forward and solemnly warned Lang Ba that he was dying of illness, and if he didn't get rid of the mundane affairs and take care of him quietly, so as to protect his body, his future would be disastrous.As a matter of fact, the Duke had neither fever nor diarrhea that day, nor did he have a cold or cough, and he, the eldest son, had never been famous for being virtuous and filial to his parents.Things looked strange.The wise man, after only a moment of confusion, immediately saw through what kind of medicine was sold in his son's boring gourd.
"Ayou is filial," he sneered, and said to the second general Heng Ha who was accompanying him, "I want this old man to claim his illness and become an official, but it's a pity that this old man is stubborn and has not yet fainted to the extreme!"
Ayou is obviously not the only contender.
The public minister, who observed people in a small way, felt that he had been cultivated by himself, and Wang Fu, who had always been respectful and close to him, even surpassed the second general Heng Ha, was also unreliable.Over the years, Wang Fu has always hung the catchphrase "This is the intention of the prince and grand master, and I just follow it" on his neck stem like a signboard, expressing his loyalty to the prince.Later, he still did not take off the signboard, but the occasion and tone of his speech changed slightly.It was originally said to those who benefited from them, and the tone was very humble, but now the target has changed to those who have not satisfied their demands, and the tone has become very regretful and apologetic.This small change has a difference between kindness and resentment to Cai Jing.In the former case, people are more grateful to Cai Jing, and in the latter case, people will put all their grievances on Cai Jing because they are not satisfied.This is not a trivial matter, but the beginning of a rebellion. Cai Jing expected that there would be further developments.Sure enough, one day, Wang Fu took down the signboard, and now he is no longer following the will of the minister, but the government.This behavior of leaping over the top and jumping to the shore meant that Wang Fu was already able to become an independent family, and no longer needed to rely on Cai Jing's family, and became a strong contender for the position of prime minister.
Unexpectedly, they dragged his old subordinate Tong Guan into the water again.Although Tong Guan is an internal eunuch, it is impossible to replace him as the chief assistant, but he is used to making troubles and troubles, and he is the most ruthless, making people fall from power, and he has the most snobbish eyes.The three of them combine to pose a great threat to him.
The bottom is shaken, he can only rely on the favor of the officials, as long as the officials treat him well, his status is still reliable.At that time, the official family liked to visit the minister's house, and they used the number of visits to each other to predict how much they were favored.He majesticly maintained the highest record of being lucky seven times, but he still felt insufficient in his heart.Xue Ang's poem said that he hoped that the official's family would be lucky 10,000 times, which really stated his thoughts in one sentence. If it wasn't a roundworm crawling out of his intestines, how could he understand his thoughts so clearly?He, Cai Jing, really hopes to live another thirty years. During his lifetime, the officials will come to visit him once a day, so as to fully satisfy his desire and madness to be raped.
Indeed, the officials are still very kind to him.Within half a month, the eunuch would be sent to give wine, food and fruit, and sometimes imperial articles, asking him to sing in harmony with the rhyme.But things can't be seen from the surface alone, the same wine and food, the eunuch Zhang Di's face became longer and longer, and he refused to let him sit for a while, and said he had something to do It was too late to find Wang Fu, not even a moment late. "The moon halos and the wind, the base moistens and rains", Zhang Di's face has always been a political barometer, his elongated face always indicates that there will be some changes coming.Furthermore, the officials are also concerned about his health.One day, he received an imperial decree: "Cai Jing is allowed to come to the capital to discuss affairs once every three days, so as to support him." This is a dangerous signal, and discussing affairs once every three days is actually equivalent to cutting two-thirds of his power.For him, love of power has become the third nature besides love of food and sex, and cutting his power by one-third is equivalent to making him lose two meals a day. take effect.But he couldn't go and declare to the officials: "The old minister is as stubborn as ever, and he hasn't fainted yet!"
Serious things are yet to come.Initiated by him alone, the right to preside over the campaign against Liao and Yan, which was being actively carried out, was suddenly and quietly transferred to Wang Fu and Tong Guan. All news was blocked from him.The superficial reason was to take care of his health and not let him worry about this troublesome matter.Cai Jing, who is particularly sensitive to the fragility of officialdom, finally understands that he has "fallen out of favor", and is moving towards the political "Nagato Palace" step by step.
Cai Jing obviously felt very embarrassed that he had to withdraw from the hot and flashy world that he had whitewashed and become a Qin refugee who didn't care about prosperity in Wulingyuan.If he wants to regain everything he lost, he must first regain the trust of the officials, which is the most important step.Things can still be transformed while everything has not developed to the point of superficiality and blatantness.However, just like a chess player at a disadvantage, the more eager he is to win, the more he will make mistakes. At this critical moment, he made another unforgivable mistake.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the second year of Xuanhe, the officials bestowed grace, and summoned the prime minister, the ruler, and his servants to give a banquet in the ban.After the banquet, the official family led everyone to enjoy the moon, and he repeated two lines of his favorite Li Houzhu: "When you return, don't put out candles and flowers, and wait for the horseshoes to clear the moon at night" (he regards himself as Li Chongguang, It seems that he is very willing to pay the life debt owed to him by his ancestors), and then declares:
"Such a beautiful moon and such a clear night, you must not let it down. You can take a royal boat and go to the Huanbi Pool for a swim. I have something to do, so I won't accompany you."
As he said that, he really stepped onto the "Little Crow" brought by the inner prison, and went back to the palace under the clear light sifted from the dense forest.
As soon as the ministers sat down in the imperial boat, the internal servant Dongtou enshrined Huang Yu suddenly took out a statement and announced:
"According to the decree: All ministers who agree with the proposal of cutting Liao and restoring Yan can sign the petition, and those who disagree will be exempted."
This is the most gratifying dramatic scene carefully arranged by the officials. In a serious and political occasion, you might as well write poems and write lyrics, talk about romance, and when it is the turn of the monarch and ministers to feast and have fun, there is a surprise attack. Let everyone talk about military affairs.
It was Cai Jing's housekeeping skills to try to figure out what the officials were thinking, to obey the will first, and to humiliate and flatter him.It stands to reason that, as a public minister and a leader, he should take the lead in expressing his position without hesitation and signing his support in order to win the favor of the officials.Unexpectedly, he was obsessed with ghosts, overestimated the official's dependence on him, and thought that rashly signing his name might not improve the current situation.If there is a slight dissent and a little airs, it may irritate the officials. In the future, he will be consulted more on the issue of the Liao Dynasty, so that he will not be completely put aside.
He was pondering and hesitating, and when he was still undecided, the astute Wang Fu said:
"The Taishi is mature enough to plan for the country, but he still needs to think it over carefully. The next official has an arrogance, so he signed it first."
After finishing speaking, Wang Fu unceremoniously took the petition from Huang Yu, and took the lead in writing on the first blank line, where Cai Jing's signature should have been, "Chen Wang Fu agrees with the holy will, defeating Liao and restoring Yan" Character.Then a series of people including Tong Guan, Cai You, Wang Anzhong, and Li Bangyan signed their names.
Wang Fu's preemptive signing surprised Cai Jing and made his situation even more difficult.Now even if he signs, he can only sign in the blank space after them, and the officials can see at a glance that he is reluctantly following, not sincerely supporting.However, a group of high-ranking officials who enthusiastically supported Cai Jing headed by Yu Shen and Xue Ang saw that he was meditating and did not sign immediately, and misunderstood his intentions, so they said, "The ministers and Cai Jing have the same meaning." nonsense, refused to sign.
The reason why answering insects can become answering insects is that they must first use their auditory organs to hear what their masters are saying clearly, and then they can use their vocal organs to make a sound in response to it.Pay equal attention to the two and must not be neglected.Now Yu Shen and others have emphasized the latter and ignored the former. They have not clarified Cai Jing's real intentions, and have rashly expressed their views. Cai Jing was also affirmed as the leader of the opposition.When these echoers said this stupid sentence, Cai Jing even had the opportunity to correct his mistakes.He watched Huang Xuan roll up the papers that had just been dry in ink, and went to Da Nei to deal with the officials, and he knew in his heart that he had been fooled and made a big mistake.He was filled with remorse and lost his mind. When he left the boat and landed, he stepped on the ground and fell into the water with a "plop".By the time the servants rushed to rescue him, he had turned into a wet and dripping "soup Taishi chicken".
Seeing all this process, Wang Wei, who felt infinitely proud in his heart, took the opportunity to joke:
"Your Majesty survived the battle of Miluo."
Wang Anzhong, who is good at being right, made the last sentence without thinking:
"The grand master traveled with Luopu a few times."
The current administration is centered on defeating Liao and restoring Yan. Since Cai Jing is its opponent, it is obvious that he cannot stay in the political affairs hall and continue to "peace the military and state affairs" and "rule the world".The consequences of refusing to sign were quickly manifested. The "retirement" he feared most was finally added to his waist like an axe, making him completely and completely withdraw from the Zhengshitang and stay in the capital to serve the court.Although the official's kindness to him has not diminished, and he has received all the etiquette that a prime minister may receive, he still maintains a series of false titles, is still called "Prince" by people, and still sits in the seat of the court during the banquet. In the position of chief, he seems to be the head of a hundred bureaucrats, but he is already a figure in the crystal palace, and everyone is only allowed to see through the crystal cover, and he can no longer play any role in actual government affairs.
He endured this embarrassing situation with amazing perseverance. "Resignation" turned out to be the philosophy of life of all feudal bureaucrats, but he never forgot to make a comeback.He didn't lose confidence because of the temporary setback.The grace of officials can be relied on but not relied on, and what cannot be relied on can be relied upon.Ministers of advancement and retreat of the official family, just like him handing over concubines, always love the new and dislike the old.Today, officials hate his old status and pity Wang Fu and Cai You's new ones; perhaps, after a while, they will come back and hate Wang Fu and Cai You's old ones and pity him for their new ones.Old or new depends on how long he sits on the prime minister's seat.Didn’t Empress Meng, the first Emperor Zhezong, be established and abolished, abolished and established again, after several repetitions?He himself also had the repeated experience of stepping down and coming to power three times.In short, there are examples to help, he will not lose the chance to make a comeback, unless he fails to live up to that day and cannot wait for that day.
It's just that the situation in front of me is really not good.They robbed him of the invention rights of cutting Liao and restoring Yan, and ruthlessly labeled him as an opponent. Even the officials believed in this.Before the grand ceremony of suing the temple was held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the officials even said that "Cai Jing objected to Fuyan, so he was not required to attend the ceremony".In fact, he never objected to Faliao, it's just that he was not allowed to take a share of the visible benefits, and he couldn't help but feel a little bit grumbling in his heart.
"The cultivation of resentful spirits is mighty, and they will never find out what other people think."
After this grievance, he really complained about the official family like Qu Yuan.Although Cai Jing of Huaguo has been familiar with classics, history and Sao Fu since he was a child, he is really keen on "Chu Ci" only when he is in a relegated position. Recently, he has been reciting "Li Sao" without leaving his mouth. state of mind.
But reading "Li Sao" aloud is, after all, just a way to vent dissatisfaction, and it is of no practical benefit.How could he be willing to deal with the hapless Doctor Qu when his chest was burning with fame and fame?Just look at the embroidered portrait of Qu Lingjun engraved on the front volume of his newly engraved "Chu Songs", with a sad face and haggard chanting, one is afraid that a bad luck of Qu Yuan will infect himself like a plague , that would really make him fall into Avici Hell, and he would never be able to recover.As a top priority, he should take practical actions to convince the officials that his original intention of advocating the attack on Liao and Yan was unswerving. However, he did not sign the petition because he had other difficulties and did not intend to innovate. Create conditions for your own revival.
A cold person with a dark back can't be touched. You should burn a hot stove, but never a cold stove.At present, the most popular person in Tianzi is Tong Guan. Holding a farewell banquet for Tong Guan, who led the army to conquer Liao, is a practical consideration to change the views of officials and correct general public opinion.The larger and more luxurious the banquet was, the more it proved that he supported Fa Liao's activeness.For this reason, he made extensive publicity to create public opinion, and asked Xue Ang to go to Li's house in Zhen'anfang to borrow "one foot yellow". In the middle, it is also so that the officials who "do not know the husband's intentions" know his heartfelt feelings. This is the ingenious plan of the grand master to kill two birds with one stone.It's ridiculous that Xue Ang, the boss, came back from Zhen'an Square with a big nose dust, and complained loudly, saying that he wanted someone to set fire to burn the pavilion and peony flowers, and everyone couldn't enjoy the flowers.This Xue Ang has followed him for thirty years in vain, how can he understand his deep meaning.
The above is the political background of Grand Master Lu Guogong Cai Jing, who did not hesitate to lower his always high head temporarily, and held a grand banquet for his old subordinate Tong Guan. Without knowing the inside story and deeply exploring the state of mind of the Duke, it is in vain to be amazed at this The grandeur and luxury of the banquet is only superficial.
Notes:
Notes: