Chapter 10 Ten Endless Battles

Ding said that he is familiar with his memory, proficient in everything from piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. He is a very talented person, and he is also resourceful and good at planning. Problems that are difficult for others to solve will be handled neatly in his hands very quickly. The ability to work is also particularly strong. Kou Zhun appreciated Ding Wei very much, and often praised Ding Wei as a talent.The deceased Prime Minister Li Hang had a very poisonous eye. Seeing that Kou Zhun praised Ding Wei, he warned: "Ding Wei is certainly talented, but can this kind of person make him superior to others?"

But Kou Zhun said: "With Ding Wei's talent, can Xianggong finally suppress him and make him under others?" Li Hang smiled and said: "There is no need to debate now, you will naturally remember what I said in the future." Kou Zhun disagreed. After Kou Zhun became a prime minister for the third time, he had heard a little about Ding Wei's treachery, but because he was an old friend, he treated him with respect, and Ding Wei also respected Kou Zhun. During a banquet, Kou Zhun's beard was stained with vegetable soup, and Ding Wei helped Kou Zhun clean it up himself.Kou Zhun is very straightforward, and he doesn't like flatterers the most. When he saw that a dignified political adviser and deputy prime minister was so humble to him, he not only didn't appreciate him, but laughed at him, saying that he was an important minister of the country. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to stroke the beard for the boss?

In a word, Ding Wei couldn't laugh or cry, and couldn't get off the stage. Ding said that he flattered him in the wrong place, and it was inconvenient to attack him at the time, but he is a villain, and a villain must avenge his revenge. Kou Zhun made him humiliated in public, and he has held a grudge ever since. He wants to find opportunities to avenge his humiliation in public Shame. Ding Wei is talented, but he is treacherous and has bad intentions.Once, Zhao Heng rewarded him and eight other ministers with a jade belt, but there were only seven left in the treasury. Zhao Heng said he would make up for it with the jade belt he used, but he didn't take it off at that time.Ding Wei wanted to get the jade belt worn by the emperor very much, but it was inconvenient to say so, so he distributed the seven jade belts in the warehouse to the other seven ministers.A few days later, when the ministers went to thank him, Zhao Heng was very surprised to see that Ding Wei did not wear a new jade belt.Ding Wei said hypocritically: "I already have a jade belt. The one your majesty rewarded is too precious. I dare not take it. I plan to return it to your majesty."

Only then did Zhao Heng realize that the jade belt was still on him, so he quickly took it off and gave it to Ding Wei.Ding Wei not only got what he wanted, but also saved face for Zhao Heng, and left an impression of being honest.Kill three birds with one stone, this is Ding Wei. Kou Zhun didn't learn the lesson of offending Wang Qinruo last time. He knew that Ding Wei, one of the five ghosts, was not a kind person, but he wanted to offend such a villain.Kou Zhun planted a curse for himself again. In the fourth year of Tianxi (1020), Zhao Heng suffered a stroke and fell ill in bed. He could hardly handle state affairs, and there was a power vacuum in the court for a while.

After getting along for a period of time, Kou Zhun has realized that Ding Wei is a treacherous person, and the differences between the two gradually deepen.Officials in the court were also gradually divided into two factions, one headed by Kou Zhun, including Li Di, Wang Zeng, Yang Yi, and Zhou Huaizheng among the eunuchs, and the other headed by Empress Liu and Ding Wei, including Cao Li, Qian Weiyan, etc. . During Zhao Heng's illness, the political struggle between the two factions not only did not weaken, but intensified.Zhao Heng was lying on the hospital bed, unaware of the surge of the two undercurrents. When his illness worsened, he was worried that he would not be able to afford it, and the Song Dynasty would still need someone to manage it, so he told the eunuch Zhou Huaizheng about his Worried, ready to let the prince supervise the country.

Zhou Huaizheng had a close relationship with Kou Zhun, so he told him the emperor's idea that the prince would supervise the country. After hearing the news, Kou Zhun secretly went to the palace to face the saint, and suggested that the prince should supervise the country and select good ministers to assist the prince. Serve the young master and ask for the dismissal of Ding Wei, Qian Weiyan and other treacherous people. It just so happened that Zhao Heng was not ill that day, and he also knew that Empress Liu was in power, so he nodded in agreement after listening to Kou Zhun's words.Kou Zhun got Zhao Heng's approval, and immediately secretly ordered Hanlin scholar Yang Yi to secretly draft an edict ordering the crown prince to supervise the country, promising that he would replace Ding Wei when it was done.

Yang Yi is a smart man, knowing that Empress Liu and Ding Wei are very powerful, in order to prevent leaks, he drove everyone away, and drafted this important edict by himself in the middle of the night.The secrecy has been done fairly well. Yang Yi strictly kept the secret, but Kou Zhun had a problem. Kou Zhun lived a luxurious life and loved wine and beauties. Once he drank too much wine, he actually said this terrible thing. Ding Wei was frightened into a cold sweat when he heard about it. In the middle of the night, he rode in an ox cart to discuss with Cao Li, and informed Empress Liu through the eunuch.

Empress Liu was originally neutral and did not lean towards either faction of the two parties. Kou Zhun was a decent man, and he didn't bother to flatter Empress Liu deliberately.Someone once sued Wang Mengzheng for occupying other people's salt wells, and Kou Zhun advocated severe punishment for Wang Mengzheng.Wang Mengzheng and Empress Liu's brother Liu Mei are in-laws. In this way, Kou Zhun offended Empress Liu unintentionally.Beating the dog didn't look at the main side, and Kou Zhun unintentionally established a strong political opponent for himself. Ding Wei is different. He is aware of the importance of Empress Liu's status, and he deliberately flatters Empress Liu. Whenever he has the opportunity, he will chat with Empress Liu. She took good care of him. Although Empress Liu didn't say anything on the surface, she felt that Ding Wei was a pretty good person in her heart. Therefore, emotionally, he was much closer than Kou Zhun.

Kou Zhun conspired with the crown prince to supervise the country, but did not discuss with Empress Liu beforehand. Ding Wei seized this opportunity and provoked him, saying that Kou Zhun had no one in his eyes, and that such a big event was hidden from the empress, with ulterior motives. Empress Liu is quite an ambitious woman. She wants to intervene in every matter in the court, even Zhao Heng sometimes asks her opinion when dealing with state affairs. How can she tolerate her courtiers turning a blind eye to her?Empress Liu was enraged.She ordered Ding Wei and others to participate in the memorial to Kou Zhun, and asked Zhao Heng to remove Kou Zhun from his official position.

Zhao Heng's condition fluctuated from good to bad, and his mood was extremely unstable. His originally cowardly character became more fragile at this time, and he was easily influenced by those around him.Ding Wei and others took advantage of Zhao Heng's condition and often slandered him. Ding Wei and Cao Li went to the palace to meet Zhao Heng and asked for Kou Zhun's dismissal. Empress Liu also said that Kou Zhun was too ambitious and had the final say on everything. The court was about to become his court. Zhao Heng fell ill again, and even forgot the agreement with Kou Zhun. In addition, Ding Wei and Qian Weiyan were outside, and Empress Liu made a lot of slander inside, and Kou Zhun was dismissed.However, Zhao Heng still relied heavily on Kou Zhun in his heart, and he didn't make things difficult for him. It just kept him away from the political core, made him the Duke of Lai, and took a vain job like the crown prince.

After Kou Zhun was removed from office, Li Di, Ding Wei, and Feng Zheng were simultaneously promoted to the positions of Chan Tong Ping Zhang Shi, Zhongzheng was appointed as Shen Zhi Zheng Shi, and Qian Weiyan was appointed as the Deputy Privy Envoy. After Kou Zhun was demoted, Zhou Huaizheng naturally became a thorn in the side of Empress Liu, Ding Wei and others because of his close personal relationship with Kou Zhun.In order to keep Kou Zhun's status and his own life, Zhou Huaizheng spared no effort to win Zhao Heng back.But under the obstruction of Empress Liu and Ding Wei, it was difficult for him to even meet Zhao Heng.Zhou Huaizheng was in a helpless situation.In this case, he made the worst plan, and it is better to fight hard than to wait for death.He found Kou Zhun and told him his plan. Kou Zhun said disappointedly: "The empress is in charge of politics, the emperor's power has been left behind, and I have also been dismissed from the position of minister. What else can I do?" Zhou Huaizheng said that the prince cannot supervise the country, so he might as well let the emperor directly take the throne. This is Zhou Huaizheng's plan, to launch a risky coup, kill Ding Wei, confine Empress Liu, make Kou Zhun the prime minister again, support the crown prince to ascend the throne, and make Zhao Heng the overlord. Kou Zhun said that such a big event is not a child's play, if it is leaked out, it will be the disaster of beheading. Zhou Huaizheng patted his chest and said: "If something happens, I will take care of it alone, and I will never get anyone involved." Although Kou Zhun does not advocate doing this, let alone participate in it, he has a strong desire to change the political situation in his heart.Although Zhou Huaizheng felt that his ideas were rash, he was not very determined to stop him.In fact, he also has a kind of luck.When Zhou Huaizheng went out, he only said one thing, be careful in everything.Obviously, he acquiesced to Zhou Huaizheng's plan. After Kou Zhun sent Zhou Huaizheng away, he locked himself at home and secretly listened to news from the palace. Zhou Huaizheng decided to take the risk. He found his younger brother Zhou Huaixin, deputy envoy of protocol, Yang Chongxun, envoy of the Hakka province, Yang Huaiji, in charge of the inner palace, and others to prepare for a palace coup. The queen was abolished, and Kou Zhun was restored to the position of prime minister, and Ding Wei and others were among the expected executions.Because he did not keep secrets and the selection of candidates was inaccurate, Yang Chongxun, the Hakka province envoy, went to Ding Wei to inform him. As a result, Zhao Heng issued an edict to arrest Zhou Huaizheng and other criminals. After the case of Zhou Huaizheng plotting a coup was exposed, Ding Wei and Cao took advantage of this opportunity to get rid of Kou Zhun. Ding said that he wanted to get rid of Kou Zhun because of his political disagreement, while Cao Lili remembered the reprimand Kou Zhun gave him in Chanzhou Yihe Shi.The two coincided with each other, and both had the idea of ​​getting rid of Kou Zhun. I don't know who made the suggestion first, but they hit it off anyway.They worked overnight, trying to drag Kou Zhun into the trial. Zhao Heng issued an edict, and the case of Zhou Huaizheng was handed over to the Privy Council for interrogation.Coincidentally, the person sitting in the courtroom to hear the case that day was Cao Wei, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council.Cao Wei is the son of Cao Bin, who has made many military achievements. He was originally a general guarding the border of the Song Dynasty. Because of the peace of the border, he was appointed to serve in the Privy Council and became the Deputy Privy Council. Cao Wei is a military general, he is upright, the emperor sent him to interrogate the case, he just interrogated Zhou Huaizheng's crimes, he didn't want to implicate others.Zhou Huaizheng himself admitted that all the things were done by him alone and had nothing to do with anyone.The trial of the case was soon over, and Cao Wei made a statement, and only Zhou Huaizheng was guilty. Cao Wei is a virtuous official, and Zhou Huaizheng is also a hero. Ding Wei was disappointed when he learned the result of the trial, and secretly reported the result to Empress Liu.They said that Cao Wei's trial was unfair, and he was suspected of covering up. Such a shocking case was definitely not done by Zhou Huaizheng alone, and there must be a party.They asked the queen to come forward and send the case back for retrial, taking the opportunity to build a big prison and eradicate all dissidents. It just so happened that Zhao Heng's condition improved a little at this time, Empress Liu didn't dare to make decisions without authorization, and could only instigate provocations beside Zhao Heng, and continued to investigate the matter of the prince's supervision of the country. Zhao Heng went to the court with an illness and told the ministers to thoroughly investigate whether the prince was related to Zhou Huaizheng's rebellion case.The officials looked at each other in blank dismay, and no one dared to speak out.Li Di stepped forward and knelt down and said: "Your Majesty has several sons, why do you want to issue such an imperial edict? I will guarantee that the crown prince has no second thoughts! Besides, the crown prince is still a child, so it is necessary to involve him. Ruin the foundation of the royal family?" Zhao Heng seemed to hear the meaning of the words, and seemed to understand the weight of the words. After thinking about it, he finally nodded and announced that Zhou Huaizheng would be brought to justice, and the case would not be retried. Seeing that one plan failed, Ding Wei made another plan, and conspired with Empress Liu to expose the "Qianyou Tianshu" reported by Kou Zhun back then as a hoax concocted by Kou Zhun, Zhou Huaizheng, Zhu Neng and others.Kou Zhun and others are guilty of deceiving the emperor. Zhao Heng ordered the arrest of Zhu Neng and others.Zhu Neng jumped over the wall in a hurry, killed the envoy sent by the court, and led the crowd to rebel.Later, he was suppressed and Zhu Neng hanged himself to death. Zhou Huaizheng and the "Qianyou Tianshu" case involved many people.Kou Zhun is not only the person Zhou Huaizheng wants to help to become prime minister, but also the initiator of "Qianyou Tianshu", so he will naturally be severely punished.He was first relegated to Taichangqing and went out to know Xiangzhou. When he left Beijing to go to Xiangzhou, it happened that Zhu Neng led the crowd to resist arrest.Although Zhu Neng was suppressed by the army, Kou Zhun was implicated again and demoted to Sima of Daozhou. All these things happened when Zhao Heng was seriously ill, Ding Wei manipulated it, and Empress Liu made the decision. This matter has passed for a long time, and one day Zhao Heng realized it again, and asked the people around him strangely: "Why haven't I seen Kou Zhun for a long time?" The people around him were afraid of Empress Liu, and no one dared Tell me where Kou Zhun has gone.Later he learned that Empress Liu had expelled Kou Zhun to Daozhou under the guise of his own name. Although he was angry, he was cowardly by nature. In addition, Empress Liu was the woman he loved deeply, and more importantly, he was seriously ill. Empress Liu's wings in the court were already full, so she had to give up with a long sigh. After Kou Zhun was demoted, Ding Wei became even more unscrupulous. He monopolized the affairs of the court and did not discuss with the other two prime ministers, Li Di and Feng Zheng. He alone had the final say on who to promote and who to dismiss.Li Di angrily said to his colleagues, from being a commoner to being a prime minister, he has received the emperor's kindness, and he has nothing to repay, and he is not afraid of death.Therefore, he paid special attention to Ding Wei's every move to prevent Ding Wei from making any small moves. At this time, Chen Pengnian was dead, Wang Qinruo was demoted, Liu Chenggui also lost power, and only Ding Wei and Lin Te were left among the five ghosts.Ding Wei wanted to recommend Lin Te as the Deputy Privy Envoy, but when Li Di knew about it, he firmly disagreed. Ding Wei insisted again and again. Ding Wei's actions stopped, and Li Di's anger was still there. The next day, he went to the court to impeach Ding Wei, saying that he was ignorant of power, secretly colluded with Lin Te and Qian Weiyan, and formed a clique with Cao Yong and Feng Zheng. Disturb Chao Gang.Kou Zhun was an upright minister, but he was framed by them and demoted to Daozhou. Ding Wei became anxious when he heard this, and immediately started arguing with Li Di. Zhao Heng was sitting in the hall listlessly. Seeing the two quarreling, he was already a little impatient and was about to explode when Li Di suddenly said to Zhao Heng: "Your Majesty, I don't want to work with such a treacherous minister, I would rather work with him." strike." Because of his excitement, he spoke loudly, and adopted the method of dying with Ding Wei.Zhao Heng was enraged, and ordered Liu Yun, a Hanlin scholar on the spot, to remove Li Di and Ding Wei from their positions as prime ministers. Li Di changed his knowledge to Yunzhou, and Ding Wei changed his knowledge to Henan Prefecture. The next day, Ding Wei went to the court to apologize, and Zhao Heng blamed him, saying that as a minister of the court, he always fought back and forth. Ding Wei said that Li Di slandered him, so he couldn't swallow this breath, so he lost his composure in the court hall, and then knelt down and begged, "If your majesty can pardon him specially, I am willing to stay in the court and serve your majesty to repay the emperor's favor." .” Zhao Heng sighed and said, "If you have such intentions, why not I!" Ding Wei quickly thanked him and went out to Zhongshu Province to convey the emperor's oral order, ordering Liu Yun to change the imperial edict. Of course Liu Yun would not agree, he said that the draft edict had already been drawn up, and the edict could not be changed without the emperor's special decree. Seeing that Liu Yun did not change the edict, Ding Wei asked Yan Shu, a scholar, to draft a new edict to restore Ding Wei's post as prime minister. Liu Yun believed that a traitor was in power, and knew that it would be difficult to work with such a person in the future, so he asked to work in a local area. Zhao Heng approved his request and sent him to Luzhou as a prefect. Liu Yun can be regarded as a tough man, who can't be provoked, can afford to hide, and went to work in the local area. Shortly thereafter, Zhao Heng simply ordered that, except for military affairs, all other affairs should be handed over to the prince, prime minister, and privy envoy.The prince is only an eleven-year-old child, and he can't even take care of himself, let alone govern the government.After the edict was issued, the imperial power was actually handed over to the empress and powerful ministers. Zhao Heng suddenly remembered what the old prime minister Wang Dan said before he died, recalling Wang Zeng back to the capital, reinstating his post as a political adviser. After Wang Zeng returned to Beijing, he immediately saw that the political situation in the court was unstable. He was worried that Empress Liu, who held real power, would be unfavorable to the prince, so he made a plan. One day, he deliberately gave a speech to Qian Wei, saying that the prince was too young to be raised by the queen.It is a great blessing for the Liu family that the queen raised the prince well!If the queen does not rely on the prince, no one may listen to what she says.For the queen's sake, she must treat the prince well. If the queen and the prince and mother are of one mind, all problems can be solved easily. The reason why Wang Zeng said these words to Qian Weiyan was because he was Liu Mei's brother-in-law, Liu Mei's wife was Qian Weiyan's own sister, and Liu Mei was Empress Liu's only brother.Wang Zeng wanted to pass the information into the palace through this channel. As expected, Qian Weiyan understood immediately, and immediately conveyed Wang Zeng's words to Empress Liu. Empress Liu is a very scheming woman, and it makes sense when she thinks about it carefully: the prince is the trump card in her hand, without the prince, how can I be safe as a queen?She felt that Wang Zeng's words were golden and good words, and her attitude changed a lot since then. In this way, the undercurrent of disharmony in the palace, which was invisible, intangible but palpable, gradually subsided. Wang Zeng skillfully resolved a crisis in the court with his wit. After the fifth year of Tianxi (1021), Zhao Heng changed the Yuan to the first year of Qianxing, amnesty the world, granted Ding Wei the Duke of Jin, Feng Zheng the Duke of Wei, and Cao Yong the Duke of Han. During the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the first year of Qianxing (1022), Zhao Heng seemed to be in good spirits and in a good mood. Accompanied by several ministers and concubines, he went to Donghuamen to watch the lanterns and had a great time. .It happened that extreme joy begets sorrow, and after returning to the palace, he couldn't get sick, and at the end of the month, his condition became more and more serious; the Ministry of Rites sent people to pray to the mountains and rivers, and Ding Wei asked Taoist priests to practice in the palace; the imperial doctors were busy inside and outside, exhausted With the help of means, not only did his condition not improve, but it became more and more serious. In February, Zhao Heng's life came to an end. When he was dying, he knew that his time had come, so he ordered the crown prince Zhao Zhen to be the emperor. On the evening of the 20th, Zhao Heng summoned Empress Liu to the sick bed and told him that the crown prince was still young, and Kou Zhun and Li Di were both loyal ministers who could be entrusted with important affairs. After his death, he would use these two people to assist the crown prince. It's true that people who are about to die have good words, since they know that Kou Zhun and Li Di are loyal ministers, why didn't they protect them well when they were alive, so that they suffered a lot and were demoted from Beijing? After Zhao Heng said the last sentence to Empress Liu, he closed his eyes forever, and Yan drove west. During the reign of Zhao Heng, the Yuan was changed five times, a total of 25 years, and his life was 55 years old. After his death, the temple was named Zhenzong. The death of Zhao Heng marks the end of the early years of the Song Dynasty and the entry into the middle period of the dynasty.