Chapter 7 The stormy "Yongzhen Innovation"

At this moment, the last card left in Wang Shuwen's hand is Han Tai, whom he sent to take over the imperial army. If Han Tai can successfully take over the Shence Army, then the general situation may be restored, because if necessary, force can be used to solve the problem. However, the actual situation is that the veteran Fan Xichao entered Fengtian's Shence Army headquarters and waited for many days, but none of the generals of the Imperial Army at all levels showed up. Fan Xichao and Han Tai just sat in Fengtian City and looked at each other.The emperor's letter of appointment is still in their arms, but it has become a piece of waste paper.

Unbeknownst to Wang Shuwen, as early as when Fan Xichao and Han Tai set out from Chang'an, the generals of the Forbidden Army sent a secret letter to Ju Wenzhen, saying that their army would soon obey the imperial court's order and belong to Fan Xichao.The intention is of course to hope that Ju Wenzhen can express his attitude.Ju Wenzhen hurriedly wrote back and said: The army must never be handed over to others. With the eunuch's words, the generals of the Forbidden Army gained confidence, so they left veteran Fan Xichao aside and ignored him, let alone Han Tai, who was powerless.

Han Tai finally had to ride back to Chang'an alone. Except for a pair of bare hands and a face with a dejected expression, he did not bring back anything to Wang Shuwen. At that moment, Wang Shuwen fell into despair. As the saying goes, when the house leaks, it rains all night, and when the boat is broken, it encounters the head wind.Wang Shuwen feels this way now.Because just at the most difficult time of his career, another bad news came from his family-his mother was seriously ill and would die soon. This is mid-June in the 21st year of Zhenyuan, and it is only four months since the reform curtain officially opened, but everything has changed beyond recognition.

For Wang Shuwen at the moment, the news of his mother's serious illness was not just an emotional blow, but the death knell of his career. Because as soon as his mother died, Wang Shuwen had to go home to mourn.This is tantamount to doing Wang Shuwen's opponents a big favor - without any effort from them, Wang Shuwen himself has to pack up and leave obediently. On June 19th, Wang Shuwen knew that his days in the court had entered the countdown, so he set up a sumptuous banquet in the Hanlin Academy, and invited several Hanlin scholars, as well as eunuch Li Zhongyan and others. The last guest Wang Shuwen invited was beyond everyone's expectations.

He is the eunuch Ju Wenzhen. No one knew what the purpose of Wang Shuwen's invitation to Ju Wenzhen was. They only knew that the banquet started in an awkward atmosphere and soon broke up unhappy. At the beginning of the banquet, Wang Shuwen held up the wine glass and said to everyone: "Shuwen's mother is ill, but because of the heavy responsibility of the country, she can't serve the decoction in person. Now she decides to ask for leave and go home to serve her mother. All I did was to repay the Emperor Long En. Once I leave the post, all kinds of slanders will flood in. I don’t know who is willing to understand Shu Wen’s painstaking efforts and say a fair word for Shu Wen?”

What is the intention of Wang Shuwen's sincere confession? Is it to arouse people's compassion, or to reach a certain degree of mutual understanding with the opponent Ju Wenzhen? In Ju Wenzhen's view, it is neither.He believes that Wang Shuwen's move is called a strategy of slowing down the army.His purpose of playing this tragic card is to paralyze his opponent so that he can wait for the opportunity to make a comeback.Because of making such a judgment, Ju Wenzhen kept a straight face that day, and he refuted every sentence Wang Shuwen said, without giving any face, which made everyone present quite embarrassed.

Wang Shuwen had nothing to say, so he had to laugh dryly while urging everyone to drink and toast.But at this moment, the wine has no other flavors except bitterness and sourness.After barely drinking a few drinks, everyone left one after another. Wang Shuwen looked at the table of delicacies that had barely touched the chopsticks, and his heart was empty.He suddenly had a feeling that his life had never been so light as it is now, so light that it seemed to be floating; it had never been so heavy as it is now, so heavy that he couldn't support it. The next day, that is, on June 20th, a piece of news spread throughout the streets and alleys of Chang'an City, and then spread throughout the world and all states and counties one after another.

The news said that Wang Shuwen resigned because of his mother's death and left the court. As for whether he can come back, most people are not optimistic. As soon as Wang Shuwen left, Wei Zhiyi felt refreshed all over his body, and began to exercise the power of prime minister independently, and all government orders were beyond his own will, so he has nothing to do with Wang Shuwen ever since.Wang Shuwen hated his teeth so much that although he was not in the court, Tian Tian and a group of old friends planned to regain power, and threatened that once he was reinstated, he would first kill Wei Zhiyi, and then kill all those who betrayed and opposed the reform.

However, this is no longer possible. To put it bluntly, this is wishful thinking, and to put it bluntly, it is called obscenity. As a result of Wang Shuwen's repeated obscenity day and night, besides making all his opponents sneer, he can only make those who insist on staying in the reform camp smile wryly. The backbone of the reform was gone, and Wang Ni felt a kind of desolation. He ran around calling for signs, and went to see the eunuch and prime minister Du You every day, requesting that Wang Shuwen be recruited as a prime minister and let him lead the forbidden army. If Wang Shuwen's desire to regain power is a kind of obscenity, then Wang Ni's request at this moment is almost stupid.

But having said that, when the reforms have come to this stage, unless they seek wealth like Wei Zhiyi, whoever wants to do something for Wang Shuwen and the reforms will look pitiful and stupid. It is conceivable that Wang Niu's various requests were rejected.Wang Ni presented three memorials to Shunzong in a row in a panic, but the result was of course nothing. So one day late at night in early autumn, the staff on duty at the Imperial Academy suddenly heard Wang Ni screaming in his office. The next day Wang Ni was carried home on a stretcher. Since then, he has never stepped into the Hanlin Academy.

People heard afterwards that the scream heard by the staff on duty at the Imperial Academy was: "I've had a stroke!" Did Wang Ni really have a stroke? No one knows, and no one is interested in knowing the truth. On July 28, the 21st year of Zhenyuan, Emperor Shunzong Li Song issued an edict ordering the prince to supervise the country.On the same day, Prince Li Chun received congratulations from civil and military officials in the East Hall of Hanyuan Hall. On the fourth day of August, Shunzong issued an edict ordering the crown prince to ascend the throne, and at the same time abdicated himself as the Supreme Emperor; Under pressure, Emperor Shunzong promulgated the last imperial edict: demoted Wang Nian to Sima of Kaizhou (now Kaixian County, Chongqing), and demoted Wang Shuwen to Sihu of Yuzhou (now Chongqing City). Soon, Wang Niao died of illness in the demolition office.Five months later, Emperor Shunzong died, and Emperor Xianzong Li Chun immediately issued an edict to bestow Wang Shuwen's death. Immediately after the relegation of the second king, none of the other main members of the reformist party was spared. Han Tai was first demoted to be the governor of Fuzhou (now Linchuan City, Jiangxi), and then Sima of Qianzhou (now Ganzhou City, Jiangxi); Liu Zongyuan was first demoted to be the governor of Shaozhou (now Shaoyang City, Hunan), and then demoted to Yongzhou (now Yongzhou City, Hunan) Sima; Liu Yuxi was first demoted to Lianzhou (now Lianzhou City, Guangdong) Governor, and then Langzhou (now Changde City, Hunan) Sima; Han Ye was demoted to Raozhou (now Boyang County, Jiangxi) Sima; Chen Jian was demoted to Taizhou ( Ling Zhun was demoted to Lianzhou (now Lianzhou City, Guangdong) Sima; Cheng Yi was demoted to Chenzhou (now Chenzhou City, Hunan) Sima; and Wei Zhiyi, the prime minister who always asked for more blessings, did not escape this challenge. Jie, and was finally demoted to Yazhou (now Qiongshan City, Hainan) Sima. This reform group, which died before its success, was known in history as "two kings and eight Sima"; this failed reform was called "Yongzhen Reform".From the opening of the reform curtain in February of the 21st year of Zhenyuan to the failure in July of this year, Yongzhen's reform lasted only half a year. The wind does not end in the morning, and the showers do not end in the day. No matter how swiftly and violently this stormy reform came, how tragically did it fail. Why did Wang Shuwen lose so badly? The reason is simple-the strong are easy to break, and the bright and bright are easy to be dirty.Wang Shuwen's principles in dealing with people are too strong, his methods are too tough, and his execution is too strong, so he will inevitably lead to strong backlash and suppression from the opposition.In addition, there are too many contradictions between Wang Shuwen's ideals and values ​​and the reality, but he prefers to bend rather than bend, so he must face the hard reality. Of course, from the perspective of personality ideals, the spirits of Wang Shuwen and others are magnanimous and selfless, and the world can learn from them, and should not be criticized by the world. However, it is undeniable that they are too inflexible in their behavior and actions.You must know that no matter what era you are in, being flexible and weak is far more suitable for gaining a foothold in the officialdom and surviving in this dangerous world than being stubborn and strong. It is said that Confucius and his elders once visited Lao Tzu.Lao Tzu slept at home, and Confucius went in and bowed to Lao Tzu for advice.Laozi glanced at him and opened his mouth: "Look at my teeth." Confucius saw that Laozi's teeth had all fallen out, so he nodded.Then Lao Tzu said again: "Look at my tongue." Confucius looked again, and Lao Tzu's tongue was complete and flexible.Then I closed my eyes and continued to sleep.Confucius thought for a while, bowed and left. What Lao Tzu wants to tell Confucius is that a person should not be like strong and easily broken teeth, but should learn from his tongue—soft, flexible, and good at adapting. Of course, the failure of Yongzhen's innovation is not entirely due to subjective reasons, but also has objective factors that have to fail.After all, in the Tang Empire at this time, all kinds of political chaos have existed for a long time, and various social evils have been accumulated for a long time. It is said that world affairs are like chess, and politics is like a game.I don't know if Wang Shuwen, before his death, will find out that in the chess game of worldly affairs and in the political game field, he is only an amateur player in the end; That opponent was impossible to defeat from the very beginning. Because, that's not a specific person or group of people. It was a sickness of an empire. On the ninth day of August in the first year of Yongzhen (805 A.D.), 28-year-old Li Chun ascended the throne in the Xuanzheng Hall as Tang Xianzong.As if in a flash, the history of the Tang Empire opened a whole new page. Why did everything happen in such a hurry? The answer is simple - in front of the eunuchs and feudal towns who hold military power, and in front of the aggressive prince Li Chun, the paralyzed emperor Li Song is really unable to bear anything, nor can he resist anything. He was neither able to bear the heavy responsibility and mission of an empire on his shoulders, nor was he able to resist the joint eunuchs, feudal towns and princes to force the palace.So in the end, he was powerless to resist the failure of reform, and also powerless to resist the fate of stepping down. The time when Emperor Xianzong Li Chun ascended the throne was less than eight months away from the time when Dezong died and Shunzong ascended the throne.In other words, in just one year, the Great Tang Empire changed three emperors. In the nearly 200-year history of this dynasty, such a thing has never happened. What exactly does this mean? After the first year of Yongzhen, which is ever-changing and fleeting, what will be the future of the empire?