Chapter 36 second quarter

Cai Jing, with a long character, was born in Xianyou, Xinghua (now Xianyou, Putian, Fujian). At the age of twenty-three (the third year of Xining), he became a Jinshi, and his younger brother Cai Bian was also a Jinshi in the same year. When entering the political arena of the empire, the empire was undergoing an unprecedented great change. As a new force of southern scholars (a statistic made by people at the time, most of those who supported the new law were the southern intellectual class. The struggle between the old and new parties was at the same time. It is also a competition between the northern and southern scholars for the political power of the empire), Cai Jing did not hesitate to join the reformist.

In the early days, Cai Jing served as Qiantang Wei, Shuzhou Tuiguan, and Qiju Lang. Later, he was appointed as Zhongshu Sheren together with his younger brother Cai Bian, and was responsible for drafting imperial edicts for the emperor. Cai Jing soon became Wang Anshi's right-hand man. During Wang Anshi's reform period, he did many great things, the most famous being the construction of Mulan Pi. Mulan Pi is now located at the foot of Mulan Mountain, five kilometers southwest of Putian City, Fujian Province, at the confluence of Xinghua Bay and the Xinghua Plain.In the first year of Zhiping in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 1064), a local woman named Qian Siniang saw that the villagers were suffering from floods repeatedly, so she invested 100,000 yuan to build a weir at the foot of Mulan Mountain.But the Mulan River was so fast that the weir built by Qian Siniang was washed away. Qian Siniang couldn't think about it for a while, so she jumped into the flood and became a legendary woman sung by later generations.Later, Lin Congshi, Qian Siniang's fellow villager, brought 100,000 coins to continue to build the bei, but it still ended in failure.

In the eighth year of Xining (1075 A.D.), Cai Jing, who was a county captain in Qiantang, Hangzhou, saw the construction of farmland water conservancy projects all over the country. He was fond of his hometown and remembered this water conservancy project that failed twice. He applied to the court several times. Mulanpi was rebuilt.Under his convening, Li Hong, a righteous gentry from Fuzhou, once again invested 70,000 yuan, and with the assistance of Feng Zhiri, a monk who is proficient in water conservancy, this magnificent water conservancy project was launched again in Mulan River. The 70,000 min will be spent.After Cai Jing learned about it, he returned to the court again, and contacted more than a dozen local wealthy gentry to contribute. The official and folks raised a total of 700,000 yuan. With joint efforts, the construction was finally completed in the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083 AD).

Mulan Pit has now become one of the five ancient pits in China, and it is still well preserved and has played its water conservancy role. Now there is a Mulan Pit Memorial Hall in the south of Mulan Pit, and there are many historical figures who made great contributions to the construction of the Pit in the museum— —Qian Siniang, Lin Congshi, Li Hong, Feng Zhiri and others. Only missing Cai Jing. Because of his outstanding performance, Cai Jing was promoted very quickly during the Shenzong reform period. In the seventh year of Yuanfeng (1084 AD), the 37-year-old nationally famous young calligrapher Cai Jing had already achieved the Longtuge waiting system, Knowing the prominent position of Kaifeng Mansion, he became the backbone of the new party.Xiao Cai's future is bright, and it is said that he was listed as a candidate for the succession of the three leaders of the new law in the Wang Anshi era after the Shenzong Dynasty.

The world is changing, and Emperor Shenzong Zhao Xu, who has been seeking reform all his life, ascends to heaven, and Emperor Zhezong Zhao Xu, who is only ten years old, comes to power, and the old Empress Dowager Gao is in charge.The old lady Gao wants to be quiet and doesn't want to make troubles. Sima Guang and other old parties are more suitable for her old people. Therefore, Sima Guang, the head of the old party who wrote history behind closed doors in Luoyang, walked into Kaifeng City under the admiration of all people. Everyone knows that the spring of the new party has passed, but no one knows how long the winter is.

Sima Guang, who has returned to the center of the stage of power, does not want to wait another day. He has a full understanding of his current physical condition. He wants to race against time to force the new law poison from the body of the empire within his lifetime, so the first thing he came to power The thing is to abolish the new law, and all the good and the bad will be abolished. As for the most important new law, Sima Niu (in the language of Su Dabeard), has a five-day deadline. The intensity is great and the time is tight, not to mention that the old party is difficult to accept. Even Su Shi and Fan Chunren (son of Fan Zhongyan) said that they can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry. They have to eat food and meat one bite at a time. Tough bones.

At this time, Cai Jing jumped out, resolutely supported Sima Niu, and quickly changed all the recruitment laws in his Kaifeng Prefecture to the official labor law within five days. All the courtiers in the empire were stunned. None of them expected that it would be Cai Longtu, the general of the new France, who jumped out. Xiao Cai's 180-degree turn was too fast. Facts have proved that Cai Jing’s investment was nothing but what he did, besides making old Sima happily pat him on the shoulder and say, “Xiao Cai, if everyone in the empire can abide by the law like you, what else can I do?” It won’t work.” Besides, Sima Guang didn’t receive any other rewards. Sima Guang, who admired him, exhausted his last ounce of concentration after fulfilling his long-cherished wish. What remained was the overwhelming condemnation of Cai Yuanchang. He is a villain, but the Taiwanese admonishers regard him as treacherous and evil, and Cai Jing is a rat who pulls a bellows-he is not a person at both ends.

The capital couldn't stay any longer, so Cai Jing was demoted out of Beijing to serve in other localities. He became known as the German Army, and later learned about Yingzhou, Yangzhou, Yunzhou, Yongxing Army, and Chengdu Prefecture. Although he was a traitor of the new party, Cai Jing in the eyes of the new emperor was still a backbone and capable official of the new party.Emperor Zhezong grew up day by day, and his dissatisfaction with the old empress dowager Gao and his admiration for his father increased day by day. Cai Bian then paid homage to Zuo Cheng, and the Cai brothers regained their power for a while.

Cai Jing is good at abolishing the new law, and he is also good at helping the new law.After returning to Beijing to act as Minister of the Household Department, Zhang Chun, the leader of the New Party, had a headache worrying about how to restore the law of enlistment.With his assistance, the empire quickly implemented the recruitment law in an all-round way. It's a pity that although Zhao Xu has the heart to inherit his father's will and carry the reform to the end, he is born with a short life. At the age of 24, he left no heirs and went to Huangquan with both feet. Zhao Ji, who had just come to power, was still unable to be the master of the empire. This time, the queen mother is in charge, and she is also a woman who doesn't like to make troubles.The New Party suffered another calamity, and Cai Jing was no exception. He was dismissed as a Duanming Longtu Bachelor, and was driven out of Kaifeng again to know Taiyuan.Then he was demoted again, Zhi Jiangning.

Cai Jing was severely aesthetically fatigued as a local official. This time he lingered in Kaifeng and was soon sued by the censors. The local parents and officials could not do it, so they sent him to guard the Taoist Temple in Yuhang ( mention Dongxiao Palace). Cai Jing ushered in the lowest point of his political career. But no matter how deeply he is suppressed, as the backbone of the new party, as long as the new party is restored one day, Cai Jing will have a bright future. What's more, the current emperor is his big fan and also an artist. Cai Jing's comeback is inseparable from the help of several people, intentionally or unintentionally.One is Tong Guan. When Huizong ascended the throne, Tong Guan was sent to Hangzhou to search for rare calligraphy and paintings. Tong Guan's cultural quality was relatively low, so when he arrived in Hangzhou, he naturally wanted to ask Cai Yuanchang, a cultural master, for help.With the help of Cai Jing, Tong Guan found a lot of precious antique calligraphy and paintings for the emperor, and Cai Jing also brought some of his own calligraphy and paintings to Zhao Ji through Tong Guan, which made the emperor's favor for Master Cai grow day by day.

The other two were Zeng Bu and Han Zhongyan, the two chief ministers during Huizong's reign.When Zhao Ji’s new policy came to power, the name of the country was changed to "Jianzhong Jingguo". The meaning was very simple. It was to adopt a national policy of equalization and utilization of the state in response to the political situation between the old and the new in the Shenzhe and Zhe dynasties.Although Zeng Bu and Han Zhongyan are representatives of the old and new parties, the two chief ministers belong to the moderate faction. Zhao Ji just came to power, and he doesn't want any troubles. He just hopes that everyone can live in peace for a few days. It's a pity that the struggle between the old and the new parties is not a one-day cold, and Zeng and Han soon became incompatible, so the two adopted an acquiescing attitude in the face of the praise of Cai Jing in the court. opponent.Later, when Cai Jing entered Beijing, Han Zhongyan personally sent his son to greet him outside Kaifeng City. When his son arrived outside the city, he realized that he was too late. Of course, Zhao Ji still has the final decision-making power, and the "basic national policy" of equal use can no longer solve the political problems of party struggles in the late Northern Song Dynasty, let alone the emperor's financial problems.It may be an inevitable choice for Zhao Ji to switch from the dual use of the two parties to support the new party reform. "Political affairs are established but the wealth is sufficient, and the wealth is sufficient but the foundation is solid." When Cai Jing came back, he was officially appointed as Minister Zuo Cheng (who soon replaced Zeng Bu as the right servant and shot into the prime minister), and began the most brilliant chapter of his life in the political arena for more than 20 years. Cai Jing's strength is that he always understands what his superiors (whether it is Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, or Zhao Ji) need, and implements the leadership's intentions efficiently.After he came to power, the empire started a new round of reforms, including the official system, schools, imperial examinations, etiquette, local systems and so on.But the focus is on the economy. In Wang Anshi's words, it is called financial management (the old party called it collecting money), and it is involved in tea law, salt law, money law, water transportation, and Fangtian. Cai Jing's reforms were effective on paper, and the empire's fiscal revenue soared sharply during his tenure.In terms of salt tax alone, the empire's annual income reached 40 million guan (this is already the total tax revenue of the whole country in the last years of the Tang Empire), so the salt law and tea law implemented by Cai Jing were ruled by the rulers for a long time in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. There is no other reason for using it as a reference—it can make money too much. In twenty years, Cai Jing was dismissed as Prime Minister four times, but Zhao Ji was hired again and again for no other reason. There is no housekeeper who can "finance money" better than Cai Jing. The treasury of the empire was so full of money and food that it was "overwhelming."How to spend the money earned is a problem. Zhao Ji is not his father, Zhao Xu, who always looks north and thinks about Dangxiang and Khitan; Cai Jing is not Wang Anshi, and manages money for the purpose of making the country rich and powerful. None of them have such lofty ideals as their predecessors, enjoying life This is their ultimate dream.So Cai Jing can pat his chest and tell the emperor that we have a surplus of 50 million yuan in the treasury now, boss, you can do whatever you want, we are not short of money.With the support of the housekeeper, Zhao Ji's life is very unrestrained, "casting nine tripods, building Mingtang, repairing Fangze, setting up Taoist temples", of course, playing with stones and building gardens, we are playing "Fengheng Yuda". Cai Jing led his master through more than 20 years of peace and prosperity. Zhao Ji and his empire seemed to be cooking with fire and blooming with flowers. No one could see the huge crisis hidden under the peacefulness of singing and dancing. If we talk about the corpse today, it seems too far-fetched to say that Cai Jing is "the number one sinner in the Northern Song Dynasty". Cai Taishi is just a utilitarian politician. What he does is to serve his master, and to obtain the greatest personal self-interest .If in front of a wise monarch, he may be able to become a capable official and achieve good political achievements (historical facts prove that Cai Jing has this ability), but he is serving a romantic, extravagant and passionate poet, then he will naturally As a matter of course, he became a traitor who harmed the country and the people. The most criticized Cai Jing in his political career was that together with Tong Guan, he advocated the union of the Jin Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty to recover Youyun. He was the core figure and representative of the main combat faction at that time. Fa Liao (by the way also plays the role of supervising Marshal Tong).Fighting a war is not a dinner party. The Cai father and son are both masters in politics, but they have no idea in the war, so Xiao Cai’s classmates have been reluctant to take office, and Lao Cai’s attitude is also very interesting. Before his son went to war, he wrote poems A gift: I am used to the world not to relieve my worries, to send a book and send tears to my eyes.One hundred years of vows should be read deeply, and the three-volt repair will take a long time to rest.Seeing off the banner is like yesterday's dream, and the body is not like a plan.Under the Ziyi hall, the breeze is full, come back early and get drunk. It is said that he also read this poem to the emperor in the court hall. After hearing this, Emperor Zhao Ji clapped his hands and said it was a good poem. It seems that I don't understand the meaning of the poem at all. The war between the two countries is imminent, and Cai Taishi, the main combat faction, uttered the tone of "a century-old vow that should be recited deeply" that the main peace faction often utters, because he is worried about his son's life (although this son is not less He raised an argument, and it was once incompatible, but after all, father and son are connected), or there are other deep meanings or foreshadowing, it is not known. But this is an attitude of Cai Jing's political career. If you have a milk, you are a mother. Any political ideals and ambitions are all on paper.Self-interest is the only criterion he believes in.The new law and the old law, the main battle and the main peace, these are just means to obtain political interests. But Cai Taishi still failed to die well in the end. With the coming of the end of the empire, his brilliant life also ended in dismal. He was exiled to Lingnan and died halfway.Cai Jing also wrote a poem before his death, which can be regarded as a self-summary of eighty years of life: He lived in the world for eighty-one years and had no home four thousand miles away.Now drifting to the end of the world, dreaming of Yaochi Que.Yu Dian five times life phase, Tong Ting Xuan Ma several times.If you stop being greedy for glory, you will have what you have today. For Cai Jing and his empire, fate seems to be impermanent, but in fact it is just a matter of cause and effect.