The grand event of conferring Zen on Mount Tai not only made Tang Xuanzong Li Longji reach the peak of history, but also made Prime Minister Zhang Shuo reach the highest point of life and the most glorious peak of his official career.In the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty at that time, Zhang Shuo was almost the only one who achieved the utmost glory and enjoyed the honor and favor through the act of enshrining Zen.Because he not only planned the whole process of this grand ceremony, but also accompanied the emperor from the beginning to the end, stealing the limelight from everyone, and seemed to be the number two figure in the entire Fengchan activity after Xuanzong.Xuanzong's leading role is so beautiful, Zhang said how dazzling the chief planner is!

However, when the moon is full, it will lose, and when the water is full, it will overflow. The arrival of the peak is the beginning of the downward trend, and a small step forward from the splendor is the rot.This is not only an objective law of nature, but also a universal law in the world, no one can escape it, and Zhang Shuo is certainly not immune. In April of the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan (726 A.D.), less than half a year had passed since Emperor Xuanzong returned to Dongdu from Mount Tai, and the lingering sound of Shanhu Longsui was still lingering in people's ears, and a shocking scene happened—the Fengchan Grand Ceremony Zhang Shuo, the chief planner of the Communist Party of China, suddenly changed from a glorious chief minister to a prisoner in chains.

What happened? Freezing three feet does not happen in a day.Everything has to start from scratch. Zhang said that this person is talented, but talented people usually make a mistake-being arrogant about their talents.Since he became the chief prime minister, all the officials who reported to him things that did not meet his wishes were at least ridiculed by him, and severely scolded by him. In short, working under him was simply a kind of mental torture.Of those officials who have been "face-to-face" by him, none of them cursed him behind their backs. If Zhang said that he was only hated by ordinary officials, then that would not be a big problem, but the key point is that he was too domineering, and he focused on suppressing the top people, so he became a deadly enemy with a famous person who was recently favored by the emperor.

This person is Yu Wenrong, a well-known financial expert in the middle of Kaiyuan. Yu Wenrong, a native of Wannian County, Chang'an, was born in a high-ranking official family. His great-grandfather was an official in the Ministry of Rites in the Sui Dynasty.With such a family background, it is destined that Yu Wenrong will never do nothing in the officialdom.It is said in history that he "has the ability to be an official in clear debate". Not long after he became an official, he was appreciated by two successive Jing Zhaoyins (one of them was the later prime minister Yuan Qianyao).

Yuwenrong's fortune began in the ninth year of Kaiyuan.At that time, the phenomenon of household escape among the people was very serious, and the imperial court felt it was a problem. Yu Wenrong, then the supervisory censor, reported to Xuanzong, suggesting a thorough investigation of escapes, migrations and false household registrations in various places.The waiter Yuan Qianyao, who has always admired his talents, also strongly agrees with this matter.Xuanzong then appointed Yu Wenrong as a special envoy to be responsible for the investigation of escaped households and "jiwaitian" (farmland not registered with the local government).

Yu Wenrong did not disappoint Xuanzong, and quickly seized a large number of fugitives and privately reclaimed farmland.Xuanzong was very satisfied, and immediately promoted Yu Wenrong to be a member of the Ministry of War and a servant of the censor, and asked him to further carry out large-scale clean-up and rectification work.In order to obtain the greatest political achievements in the shortest possible time, Yu Wenrong invited Xuanzong to set up ten "persuading farmers judges" to send them to various parts of the country as special envoys of the imperial court to supervise the implementation of the Kuohu policy.

The special envoys were eager to ask for credit, so regardless of the actual situation in the local area, they used strict supervision methods to force the state and county officials to increase their efforts to close households.Because Yu Wenrong's family members are in the midst of prosperity, even the court ministers are afraid of him, so the magistrates of the prefectures and counties are even more afraid of disobedience. In order to make business, they have to resort to fraud and report the original local residents as fleeing households, "So Zhu Dao Kuo has more than 800,000 customers, and Tian is also known as ".

With so many fugitives found and so many so-called unlicensed farmlands found, the taxes paid to the imperial court in various places have naturally increased significantly.At the end of that year, the imperial court "extracted millions of dollars from customers". ("Old Book of Tang Yuwen Rong Biography") For this, Xuanzong was naturally full of joy. Even if the people suffered from it, many ordinary people were miserable, but Xuanzong couldn't see all of this, only Yu Wenrong's remarkable achievements.At that time, a local official once went to the imperial court to try his best to explain the various disadvantages caused by the Kuohu policy, but he was immediately relegated.Soon, another minister of the household department reported the facts, saying that the closing of the household made "the common people suffer, and the gains do not make up for the losses", but as soon as the memorial was released, Xuanzong was demoted from the court again.Since then, no one in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty dared to say a word about it, and Yu Wenrong naturally became Xuanzong's most important financial expert.

In August of the twelfth year of Kaiyuan (AD 724), Yu Wenrong was promoted to Yushi Zhongcheng, and went to various parts of the country to inspect and work as an "envoy to persuade farmers".In the face of this favorite minister of the emperor, the officials of all states and counties tried their best to curry favor, no matter how big or small the government affairs were, they would first report to Yu Wenrong, and then go to Zhongshu Province; After dealing with the opinions, dare to make a ruling. For a time, Yu Wenrong seemed to be an uncrowned prime minister. Seeing Yuwenrong's growing power, Zhang said that of course he was extremely upset, so he gave Yuwenrong small shoes to wear everywhere.Since then, all the proposals and suggestions put forward by Yu Wenrong have been overturned and vetoed by Zhang Shuo without exception.

Yu Wenrong, who was enjoying himself in the spring breeze, of course couldn't stand Zhang Shuo's suppression, so he regarded him as the number one political enemy, and tried every means to bring him down. In this way, Zhang Shuo and Yu Wenrong got married. However, if Zhang said that he just offended Yu Wenrong, he might not end up in jail.After all, he is the chief prime minister, whether it is seniority, prestige, contribution, or the favor of the emperor, he is better than Yu Wenrong in every point.Therefore, the main reason for Zhang Shuo's downfall is actually not Yu Wenrong.Although Yu Wenrong was the one who came forward to overthrow Zhang Shuo in the end, if Zhang Shuo hadn't made a big mistake in himself, no matter how hard Yu Wenrong tried, he would not have been sent to prison overnight.

So, what exactly went wrong with Zhang? In the final analysis, Feng Chan was to blame. Although planning Feng Chan is the most brilliant event in Zhang Shuo's official career, everything in the world always has pros and cons.Zhang said that although Feng Chan achieved great achievements, it was precisely because of Feng Chan that unforeseen disasters were caused. To be precise, it was Zhang Shuo who committed the public outrage during this Feng Chan, offending all those who should not be offended. As soon as the Feng Chan motion was put forward, Zhang Shuo had sex with another prime minister, Yuan Qianyao. Yuan Qianyao was originally a very low-key person. Whether it was Yao Chong in the past, Zhang Jiazhen later, or Zhang Shuo now, Yuan Qianyao was willing to be a green leaf for them, honest and honest, and everything went smoothly. Watching them, never rushing to them.But this time is different, this is Feng Chan!The matter was too big for him not to have his say. Yuan Qianyao's view is: Fengchan activities need to consume a lot of people, materials, and financial resources. However, Zhang, who has always been defiant, said that he didn't take Yuan Qianyao seriously at all, and he could do whatever he wanted. means kidnapping.Although Yuan Qianyao had nothing to do about it, he was extremely dissatisfied with Zhang Shuo from then on.Therefore, when Yuanyuan Ganyao became the presiding judge of Zhang Shuo's case, he acted in a business-like manner, reported the truth, and did not care about feelings at all, and sentenced him as he wanted. In addition to angering Yuan Qianyao, Zhang Shuo also angered all civil and military officials in the court. Since Fengchan is a major event celebrated by the whole world, the relevant system stipulates that all the officials who accompanied the emperor to Mount Tai, no matter how high their previous official ranks, once participated in the grand ceremony, the emperor will "give favor" and be promoted to fifth-rank officials.But with so many civil and military people in the Manchu Dynasty, it is of course impossible for all of them to go up as officials of courtesy.Therefore, there must be a standard of choice for who can get on and who can't. Who sets this standard? Of course Zhang said. If you are Zhang Shuo's confidant, friend, relative, or an official under Zhongshu's school, and you are usually good at currying favor with the boss, then congratulations, you can go up as a courtesy officer.Even if you were originally a ninth rank, you will be "expensive"① once you climb Mount Tai, which is better than fighting for most of your life. If you don't meet the above conditions at all, isn't it a dead end? No, you can still hug your feet temporarily and bring some yellow and white things or precious treasures to visit Boss Zhang.If the weight is not too light, then congratulations, you can also "expensive". This is the trick behind Feng Chan. However, it is precisely because of such a glamorous incident that there is such a shameful trick behind it, the eyes of Manchao Wenwu will naturally be like a searchlight, firmly locked on Zhang Shuo.Therefore, when the list of people who accompanied the emperor to climb the mountain was announced, all the officials immediately exploded, accusing Zhang Shuo of abusing his power and engaging in malpractice for personal gain. In fact, long before Zhang Shuo announced the list, a subordinate had already reminded him that doing so was too ostentatious and might arouse public outrage, and urged Zhang Shuo to think twice before acting. This subordinate was Zhang Jiuling, the later famous prime minister. At that time, he was an official in Zhongshu Sheren. However, Zhang Shuo, who has always been domineering, did not listen to Zhang Jiuling's advice and insisted on publishing the list, thus offending all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty. While offending civil and military officials, Zhang said he also offended another large group of people.Judging from the number of people, this group of people has the largest number, so the power of public opinion formed by them should not be underestimated. This group of people is the tens of thousands of soldiers who escorted the emperor to travel. In the entire Fengchan operation, the hardest ones were the soldiers.Most of the court officials rode in chariots and horses, and most of them could only walk; at night, all the officials were asleep, and they had to stand guard and patrol at night.Therefore, almost every soldier believed that after Feng Chan ended, they would definitely receive a generous reward. But the result disappointed them greatly. Due to the huge cost of Fengchan activities, Zhang said that in order to save money, he only "added honors" to the soldiers, but did not distribute any material rewards.These soldiers were eagerly looking forward to rewards, but in the end they only hoped for honorary titles that are useless. Their lungs exploded, and they desperately greeted the eighteen generations of Zhang's ancestors in their hearts. "As a result, there are grievances at home and abroad." (Volume 212) In this way, Zhang said that he offended almost all the people who participated in Fengchan. Even so, it was not the main reason for Zhang Shuo's downfall. If Zhang said that he was further favored by Xuanzong because of planning Fengchan, then even if everyone in the world stabbed him in the back, they still couldn't do anything to him in the end.In other words, as long as the emperor is happy, what's the point of offending the whole world?Even if the sky falls, the emperor will hold it up! Unfortunately, Zhang said—even the emperor, whom he tried so hard to please, ended up dissatisfied with him. This is the most important thing. The reason why Xuanzong was dissatisfied with Zhang was because he was too arbitrary in drawing up the list of climbers. Just a few days after the conferring ceremony, Xuanzong held a banquet for his officials. During the banquet, a young official wearing a five-rank red official uniform caught Xuanzong's attention. This young man is Zhang Shuo's son-in-law, named Zheng Yi. Xuanzong remembered very clearly that Zheng Yi was originally a ninth-rank official, and he didn't seem to have any outstanding achievements in his impression. Why did he get promoted to fourth rank in just a few days? Xuanzong immediately called Zheng Yi to him and asked him the reason for his sudden promotion.Zheng Yi's face was red, his ears were red, he hesitated, and couldn't say a word for a long time.In the end, it was an actor named Huang Fanchuo beside Xuanzong who answered for him. Huang Fanchuo smiled sarcastically and said: "This is the power of Mount Tai!" (Duan Chengshi "Youyang Miscellaneous") This sentence is not only to remind Xuanzong that this Zheng Yi is one of the people who were "tweeted" on the top of Mount Tai a few days ago, but also to insinuate Zheng Yi, saying that he was able to connect purely with his father-in-law. Promoted to level four.The reason why later generations called his father-in-law Mount Tai is the allusion. Xuanzong was very unhappy when he heard this. Dare to feel that the so-called "ceremonial officials" who climbed Mount Tai with him that day are all pro-party members that Zhang said?Isn't this a blatant use of power for personal gain? ! As a result, Xuanzong's reliance and trust in Zhang Shuo was greatly reduced. Since the return of Feng Chan, Zhang said that on the surface he is still the chief prime minister with great reputation. In fact, it is not difficult for a discerning person to find out that Zhang said that he has lost the trust of the emperor. An incident that happened in February of the 14th year of Kaiyuan is enough to prove that Zhang Shuo fell out of favor. At that time, Xuanzong recruited Henan Yin Cui Yinfu to enter the court, intending to grant him the important position of Yushi doctor.Zhang said that he thought this person was vulgar and uneducated, so he asked Xuanzong to change him to General Jinwu, and at the same time recommended another candidate. This person is Cui Rizhi, who was relegated for taking bribes a few years ago. It is said that he has a very close personal relationship with Zhang Shuo. After Zhang Shuo's memorial was presented, Xuanzong became angry. Well you Zhang said!You think the person I like is vulgar, but what kind of stuff do you recommend yourself?A corrupt official with bad conduct!Just because you and Zhang said that you are a good friend, you dare to publicly recommend him as the doctor of the royal history.What kind of official is Doctor Yushi?He is the official who supervises all officials!How can an official who has a problem with his own conduct supervise all officials?I handed over the power of the Zhongshu Ling to you Zhang Shuo, did I ask you to do this? ! Xuanzong categorically rejected Zhang Shuo's proposal, and transferred Cui Yinfu to the central government as the imperial doctor according to the original plan. After Cui Yinfu took office, he heard that he was almost killed by Zhang Shuo, so of course he hated him to the bone. In this way, Zhang said that he had another enemy. When the matter developed to this point, Zhang said that he had basically cut himself off from the people—except for the small group of pro-party members who climbed up Mount Tai with him, he had completely become a loner in the court. Seeing Zhang said that he had walked to the edge of the cliff step by step, his old enemy Yu Wenrong suddenly burst into joy. If you don't make a move at this time, when will you wait! Yu Wenrong immediately went to find two people.One is his new boss, Cui Yinfu, the official censor, and the other is Li Linfu, who will become famous and powerful in the future. Not long ago, because of Yu Wenrong's citation, he served as the same censor Zhongcheng. The three hit it off immediately, and then split up to collect evidence that Zhang said he violated the law and discipline. This time, Zhang said it was doomed. Collecting criminal evidence and impeaching high-ranking officials has always been the special skill of Yushitai, not to mention that now the three main leaders of the discipline inspection department have joined forces, and Zhang said that his ass is not clean, and the emperor no longer trusts him. It would be unreasonable not to bring him down. The keen Zhang Jiuling noticed Yu Wenrong's change, and warned Zhang worriedly: "Yu Wenrong is favored by the emperor, and he is eating well, and he is shrewd and skilled in power. You must guard against it." However, Zhang, who has always been conceited, did not realize the danger at all.He let out a cold snort from his nostrils: "What can a rat do!" (Volume 213) On April 4th of the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan, the "rats" in Zhang Shuo's eyes officially attacked him.Cui Yinfu, Yu Wenrong, and Li Linfu jointly named Shangshu and impeached Zhang Shuo on three counts: 1. personal friendship with a magician and divination of astrology;Any one of these three crimes is enough for Zhang to drink a pot. This case aroused Xuanzong's great attention.He immediately arrested Zhang Shuo and put him in prison. Then he appointed Shi Zhongyuan Qianyao, Minister of Criminal Affairs Wei Kang, Dali Shaoqing Hu Gui, and Cui Yinfu, a doctor of imperial history, to form a special court to hear the case. Since Zhang said that he had offended all the officials in the court, everyone hoped that he would be finished soon, so the result of the interrogation can be imagined.After the interrogation, Yuan Qianyao and others agreed that the evidence in this case was conclusive, and Zhang said the crime was unpardonable. It wasn't until this moment that Zhang Shuo suddenly realized that he had become the target of public criticism from officials and officials, and became a street rat shouted and beaten by everyone in the government and the opposition! After a few days in the dark, filthy and damp cell, Zhang said he seemed to have aged all of a sudden.When the eunuch Gao Lishi came to visit the prison entrusted by Xuanzong, what he saw was no longer the domineering and domineering chief minister, but a dry old man with disheveled hair and dull eyes. Gao Lishi sighed, and returned to the palace to report to Xuanzong: "Shuo (Zhang Shuo) is disheveled and dirty, with a mat, eats with pottery, and treats crimes with fear." (Volume 213) When Xuanzong heard the words, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.Looking back on the past, Zhang said that he has made a lot of contributions to the country, and his literary talent is rare in the world. It would be a pity if it was buried here. Gao Lishi, who has always been good at figuring out the will of the host, saw this, and hurriedly told Xuanzong that Zhang said that he had served as a servant in the Eastern Palace, had followed His Majesty for many years, and had made great contributions to the country, so he should be lenient. Xuanzong took it very seriously, and issued an order a few days later to dismiss Zhang Shuo's Zhongshu Ling, and everything else remained as before. With Zhang Shuo's resignation, the battle between Yu Wenrong and Zhang Shuo finally came to an end.However, the conflicts and disputes at the top of the political arena did not end there.Throughout the middle and late stages of Kaiyuan, and even the entire Tianbao period, the high-level political struggles in the empire will intensify.The current duel is just the tip of the iceberg. At the same time that the ministers of the foreign court were fighting each other, Xuanzong's harem also started a war for position and favor. The two warring parties, one is the queen and the other is the concubine. The queen's surname is Wang, and the concubine's surname is Wu. This scene seems familiar. Many years ago, in the harem of the empire, there was also a queen surnamed Wang who fell out of favor because of childlessness, and was finally deposed as a queen; ambition", finally got his wish and put on the phoenix crown. Today's king and queen are also childless, out of favor, fading, and her succession is in jeopardy; and now this concubine surnamed Wu is the grandniece of Wu Zhaoyi back then, and she is as much favored as her. Aggressive, and just like her "has the ambition to seize"... Everything seems to be exactly the same as the scene of "Abolishing the King and Liwu" seventy years ago. Will history repeat itself?