Chapter 16 Nine preparations for the last big meal in the South

After the Southern Han Dynasty was wiped out, only Southern Tang, Wuyue, and Quanzhang in Pian'an were left as the separatist forces in the south.For the Zhao and Song courts, Wuyue and Quanzhang were just two small dishes, while in the Southern Tang Dynasty it was a single dish, a big meal. At this time, the Song Dynasty had already occupied the Jiangbei area in the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, as well as the lower reaches of the Pearl River, and surrounded the Southern Tang Dynasty on three sides.In particular, occupying the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is a great advantage. If the Southern Tang Dynasty is conquered, the army can go down the river by boat and it can approach Jinling.How to eat this big meal, Zhao Kuangyin really had to make good preparations.

Li Yu, the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was a smart man. After the fall of the Southern Han Dynasty, he already felt the threat of death. In November of the fourth year of Kaibao (971), Li Yu prepared a generous gift and sent his cousin Li Congshan to Bianliang to meet Zhao Kuangyin. Emperor Zhao Song bestowed the title. Zhao Kuangyin saw that Li Yu was so ingratiating, so he made a favor, and bestowed Li Yu as the lord of Jiangnan, and also gave an extra 50,000 taels of silver.Li Congshan was appointed as the envoy of Fengning Army Jiedu, and he was given a house in Bianliang to stay in the capital.It is not difficult to see that in name, Li Congshan was kept in the capital as an official, but in fact he was detained and placed under house arrest as a hostage in the capital.

The title is just a false name, and the next imperial decree will be done. It is a bit puzzling to give so much extra money.Because Nan Tang bowed his head and professed his vassal, bestowing a title is already a special grace, and it is a bit unreasonable to give a large sum of money. Could it be that the money in Zhao Kuangyin's hands has nowhere to spend, and it is impossible to ask Nan Tang to help spend the money?Of course, things are not that simple, because even if he has money, he will not spend it like this, and there must be a reason for it.It turns out that there is a little-known story in it.

After Zhao Song destroyed the Southern Han Dynasty, Li Yu, the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was afraid that the Song Dynasty would attack the Southern Tang Dynasty, so he secretly sent someone to Bianliang to bribe Prime Minister Zhao Pu. The bribe was 50,000 taels of silver.Seeing so many silver taels, Zhao Pu fell in love with his heart, but he was a smart man and knew that the silver was very hot. Although he couldn't put it down, he reported the truth to Zhao Kuangyin for his personal career. Zhao Kuangyin laughed after hearing Zhao Pu's report, and asked Zhao Pu to accept the money, and wrote a letter to Li Yu to express his gratitude.

Zhao Pu thought that Zhao Kuangyin was teasing him, saying that there were selfless gifts and selfless receipts between ministers and ministers, and he really didn't dare to accept the money according to the order. Zhao Kuangyin said earnestly: "A big country should have the demeanor of a big country. It is not appropriate to show weakness to a small country. It should make them fearful and have a sense of unfathomable depth. You just do what I want, and I have my own clever plan." Sure enough, Zhao Pu followed Zhao Kuangyin's will and accepted fifty thousand taels of silver.

Li Yu received the letter and 50,000 taels of silver sent back by Li Congshan, and immediately understood what was going on. He was even more afraid of the Song Dynasty in his heart, so he made another statement and asked Zhao Kuangyin to let Li Congshan return to Jiangnan. Of course Zhao Kuangyin would not agree, he had deep meaning in keeping Li Congshan.He sent an imperial edict to Li Yu, which means that Congshan is a talent, and I want to reuse him. Today, the North and South are a family, and there is no need to divide each other.It means that Li Yu should not have any worries. Li Yu had no choice but to give up and let Li Congshan stay in Bianliang.

There was a capable man in the Southern Tang Dynasty. He was Lin Renzhao who stayed behind in Jiangdu. Copybook.It is said that Zhao Song destroyed Xishu first, and then took Lingnan, and Jiangnan will be their next goal.Instead of sitting still and waiting to die, it is better to fight hard.Zhao Song has been fighting continuously and has become a tired army. They don't have many defenders in Huainan. This is a golden opportunity.He is willing to lead tens of thousands of troops to cross the river since Shouchun and recover the Jiangbei land that was taken away in the Later Zhou Dynasty.If Zhao Song sent troops to rescue, he would defend Huainan and fight the Song army.If he wins, the country will benefit; if he loses, please ask Li Yu to kill his whole family to apologize to Zhao Song, saying that he is a traitor in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and it is his own initiative to regain Huainan.At that time, Zhao Song will not hold Li Yu accountable.

Lin Renzhao can be regarded as a man of loyalty, courage, benevolence and righteousness. In order to protect the interests of the country, he even gave up his family. In order to prevent his actions from harming his country, he even willingly bears the reputation of a traitor. How many people can have such a spirit throughout the ages? Although Li Yu became the lord of the south of the Yangtze River, he is a person who does not want to be troublesome. He just wants to live a peaceful life. As for the land that was taken away by Zhou Shizong in the Later Zhou Dynasty, he does not seem to care about it, because he knows that With the national power of Jiangnan, if you want to compete with Zhao Song, it is tantamount to being a cart with your arms and overestimating your capabilities.Therefore, he ignored Lin Renzhao's memorial and threw the memorial into the wastebasket.

Lin Renzhao summoned a large number of strong men to practice water warfare on the Yangtze River, and repeatedly defeated Wu Yue, another small regime in the south of the Yangtze River, in Haimen.He believed that Wu Yue had enmity with Southern Tang and was attached to Zhao Song. In the future, he would join forces with Zhao Song to conspire to seize the land in the south of the Yangtze River. After announcing rebellion, he went to Wuyue to ask for reinforcements.After Wu Yue's rescuers came, they took the opportunity to take Wu Yue's land. Li Yu is still not interested in Lin Renzhao's plan to cheat Wu Yue.Although Lin Renzhao had a heart of serving the country, it would be futile for his master not to appreciate it.

Zhao Kuangyin had heard for a long time that Lin Renzhao was the number one general in the south of the Yangtze River. He was brave and good at fighting. It was frightening, and he decided that this person was a serious problem. If he didn't get rid of this person, it might not be so easy to eat Jiangnan's dish.So, the matter of getting rid of Lin Renzhao was put on the agenda, but he couldn't find a good solution. After thinking about it again and again, he finally came up with an idea. Li Congshan stayed in Bianliang, and Li Yu often sent people to and from Bianliang to inquire about some news about the court from Congshan.Messenger travel between north and south is endless.Zhao Kuangyin ordered people to bribe Jiangnan envoys with a lot of money to steal a portrait of Lin Renzhao, and then hung Lin Renzhao's portrait in another room.

On this day, Li Congshan entered the palace to meet with Zhao Kuangyin. The eunuch led Li Congshan to wait in another room on purpose. Li Congshan saw the portrait of Lin Renzhao hanging in the other room, and asked in surprise why Lin Renzhao's portrait was hung here. The courtier deliberately asked: "Your Majesty is so surprised to see this portrait, do you know this person?" Li Congshan said: "This is the portrait of Lin Renzhao who stayed behind in Jiangnan. However, as far as I know, he has no contact with people in the court. Why is his portrait hanging here? I just don't know the reason, so I am surprised!" The courtier hesitated for a long time and said: "I am a minister with you, and I don't treat you as an outsider. To tell you the truth, Lin Renzhao intends to submit to the imperial court, so he first sent someone to send a portrait as a token. The emperor cherishes Lin Renzhao as a talent, and I will prepare it for you. This set of mansions will be given to him to live in after he comes to Beijing. Hanging his portrait here means that the court respects the virtuous." Li Congshan heard it in his ears and kept it in his heart.After returning home, he immediately wrote a letter and sent someone to fly back to Jiangnan. When Li Yu got the report, he thought that Lin Renzhao had a different ambition, so he immediately summoned Lin Renzhao, gave him a cup of poisoned wine, and poisoned him to death.Poor Lin Renzhao was loyal to the Lord all his life, so he was unjustly killed like this! Li Yu thought that if Lin Renzhao was killed, no one in the south of the Yangtze River would dare to plot wrongdoing, so he could sit back and relax. Zhao Kuangyin was naturally happy when he learned that Li Yu had fallen for his own countermeasures and poisoned Lin Renzhao to death with a glass of wine. He was going to find an excuse to dispatch troops to conquer Jiangnan.Due to several incidents that happened in succession thereafter, his plan was postponed. Li Yu didn't know that he had been tricked, and thought that he could rest easy after getting rid of a spy, so he let go of his emotions and ignored state affairs. Li Yu is Li Jing's sixth son. It stands to reason that it is not his turn to be the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It is only because several of his elder brothers have died, and by accident, the laurel crown of the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty has been worn on his head. Li Yu is talented and intelligent, with outstanding literary talent, good at poetry and painting, good at rhythm, especially good at poetry and song.He named himself Hermit Zhongren and Layman Lianfeng, and he also admired ancient hermits Xu You, Boyi, and Shuqi, all of whom had the elegant demeanor of a literati and poet.Li Jing loved Li Yu very much, so when he was dying, he passed on the title of Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty to him, and he was called Queen Li in history. Li Yu has a high achievement in art. His calligraphy, Tao Gu's "Qing Yi Lu" records: The latter master is good at calligraphy. It looks like a quivering pen and a quivering pen. It is as strong as cold pine and frost bamboo. It is called "Golden Cuo Dao".It is not necessary to use a pen to write large characters, but it can be done in a silk book, which is called "a book with lapel lapels" in the world. Li Yu's paintings have reached a very high level of art. Guo Ruoxu's "Books and Experiences" in the Song Dynasty records: Li Yu, the queen master of the south of the Yangtze River, was talented and knowledgeable, and he was skilled in calligraphy and painting.Tasting and watching the paintings of forests, stones and birds are far beyond the usual flow and unexpected. Li Yu also has high attainments in writing lyrics. The style of his early lyrics is gorgeous and soft, and he does not break away from the habit of "Huajian".According to the content, it can be roughly divided into two categories: one is to describe the magnificent court life and romantic affairs between men and women, such as "Bodhisattva Man": The flowers are bright and the moon is dark and the mist is dark. It's better to go to Lang's side tonight.Put socks down the fragrant steps, and carry gold-thread shoes.See you at the south bank of the painting hall, always cuddling with people and trembling.It is difficult for a slave to come out, and the teacher will pity him freely. There is also a kind of heavy sorrow expressed when one feels the fate of being unable to get rid of under the pressure of the Song Dynasty, such as "Meeting Joy": Silently, I go up to the west building alone, the moon is like a hook, and the lonely phoenix tree is locked in the deep courtyard in autumn.Cutting constantly, the reason is still chaotic, it is the sorrow of parting, don't have a feeling in my heart. These are some popular words, widely spread in later generations. Li Yu is indeed very talented. If he can use his talent to govern the country, it will be a blessing to all people.But this Li Yu is arrogant and extravagant, and she is a womanizer.If it's just sexual arrogance and extravagance, a womanizer, and a way of managing the country and financial management, it's not terrible.Because many emperors in ancient times had this problem.For example, Tang Taizong Li Shimin was a lecherous emperor. His younger brother Li Yuanji was killed in the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Seeing that his sister-in-law, that is, Li Yuanji's wife, was beautiful, he accepted him as a princess without hesitation.This is called "Fat and water don't flow to outsiders' fields."However, Li Shimin was diligent in politics and had a good way of governing the country. Under his leadership, the most prestigious Zhenguan rule in Chinese history emerged.Therefore, historians did not ask Li Shimin to be a perfect man too much, and did not pursue his lustful problem too much. Li Yu is different. He is arrogant and lustful, but forgets the business, ignores the government, is sensual, drunk, dreaming and dying, happy but forgetful.Li Yu's queen, Zhou, is not only beautiful, but also knowledgeable about the past and the present. She is especially good at playing the pipa. She is a rare talented woman and beautiful woman. Zhou Hou had a girl, Xiuwai Huizhong, who was a bit more beautiful and talented than her elder sister, and often came to the palace to visit her elder sister.Li Yu is a natural lover. When he saw this little sister-in-law, he had long been distracted. He ate what was in the bowl and looked at what was in the pot. He had the idea of ​​killing two birds with one stone. Unable to succeed, I had no choice but to bury my full desire in my heart. The opportunity came. Once, after a week, I occasionally felt cold and sick, and my body was a little uncomfortable. The number of times my sister-in-law entered the palace became more frequent.Li Yu took the opportunity to leave his aunt in the palace, and only said that he asked her to accompany his sick sister.Zhou Hou was not suspicious, and let Li Yu keep the girl behind. In order to achieve the purpose of having a tryst with his sister-in-law, Li Yu specially ordered someone to build a small pavilion among the flowers in the imperial garden.Needless to say, the pavilion is exquisite and gorgeous, but the key is the furnishings inside. One bed and one chair are only for two people to sit up. The brocade quilt and pillows on the bed are all available. On this day, Li Yu sent everyone away and led his sister-in-law to the imperial garden to watch the flowers alone.The sister-in-law saw such a unique pavilion among the flowers, and became curious, so she asked Yu Huayuan what the purpose of building such a beautiful pavilion was.Li Yu had already made up a lie in her heart, and lied to her that the small pavilion was used to collect various famous fragrances.My sister-in-law is a person who loves incense and is obsessed with it. Hearing that there is incense in it, she went in curiously to see it.Unexpectedly, Li Yu followed behind and locked the door behind her. My sister-in-law was taken aback and was about to shout. Li Yu covered her mouth with his hand, and said a lot of lovesickness and love in a soft voice. My sister-in-law refused at first. In the overflowing place, there are two lonely men and widows. The sister-in-law is also a young girl who is in love. In addition, Li Yu is a natural lover. She comes with sweet words casually. The sister-in-law was also amused, and she fell down in the pavilion halfway. On the brocade bed, beautiful things have been accomplished. Li Yu and his aunt had the first time, so they didn't have to worry about the second time. After the second time, the third time would be a matter of course. They took advantage of the chance that they were still ill after a week, and they met every day in the small pavilion in the imperial garden.After a long time, there will always be some clues. Zhou Hou became suspicious. Although the maids dared not tell the truth, Zhou Hou also used his thoughts to call one of the palace ladies at Yinshi and one at Maoshi. , and finally found out the secret of the two of them clearly.Zhou Hou was so angry that his liver and intestines were broken, his condition increased sharply, and he passed away after a few days. Li Yu cried a few times. Although he was accompanied by his aunt, the sadness was reduced, but he still shed a lot of sad tears when he thought of the old relationship after Zhou Hou, because he was a born passionate seed, and Xi Xin did not forget the old. Just after Li Yu finished the funeral after Zhou Hou, he officially registered his sister-in-law as the new queen.Historically, the Queen of Zhou was called the Empress of the Great Zhou, and the younger sister of the Empress of the Great Zhou was called the Empress of the Little Zhou. Xiao Zhou Hou was born with intelligence and flattering tunes. He did not know where to get Yang Yuhuan's neon clothes and feathers.Since then, the court of the Southern Tang Dynasty sang and danced at night, and the neon clothes and feathers echoed in the backyard of the palace, which made Li Yu feel fascinated, immersed in it, and didn't care about state affairs. Li Yu was sad about his death, and accompanied his new favorite, sometimes sad and sometimes happy, living deep in the palace, and even less when he was facing the court. He left all state affairs to the ministers to deal with, and he became the emperor who left hands.If no one asked for instructions, he would not care about it, and sometimes he was so depressed that he would go to a brothel to relax. On this day, Li Yu went out of the palace again in low clothes, and walked to the door of a brothel, where he saw a monk holding a feast and drinking. The monk sat alone in the middle, holding a prostitute in his arms with his left hand, and holding up a large bowl of cattle to drink with his right hand. All the prostitutes are surrounded, some are persuading to drink, some are singing for fun, cuddling with the red and leaning against the green, it is very lively and very interesting. Seeing this, Li Yu stepped in and said with a smile as he walked, "An unexpected guest has arrived!" The monk was also a bold and unrestrained person. Seeing that Li Yu was graceful and luxurious, and his behavior was extraordinary, although he didn't know that he was the lord of the country, but judging from his clothes, he must be a rich man, so he invited him to the table and drank together.Li Yu was also polite, sitting high on the seat and drinking freely.Seeing Li Yu's appearance, these prostitutes thought they were the monk's guests, and they scrambled to hold the pots and cups, and went forward to persuade them to drink.After drinking until he was very drunk, he put down the cup and left his seat, and wrote a few words on the wall on the right with a pen: Pour lightly and sing softly, snuggle up to the red master and lean on the green master, and preside over the Yuanyang Temple to pass on the romantic teachings After finishing the question, he put down his pen, turned around and bowed his hands to the monk, said sorry, and walked away. The monk looked at Li Yu's back, and said with a sigh, which sister's guest is this, really chic! All the prostitutes burst into laughter, saying that the master was drunk, and none of us knew this person.The monk clapped his hands and laughed and said, "I don't know anyone?"This is even more interesting, quickly ask someone to find out who his name is, where he lives, and next time he drinks, invite him to have fun together! Just as he was about to ask someone to catch up with him to inquire, suddenly an old mother ran in and asked in surprise: "Master, you are so honored! You actually know the king. Today's table of wine really makes us flourish!" "What did you say?" the monk asked strangely, "Who is the king?" My mother said that she was at the intersection and saw the man who was drinking just now surrounded by a group of people from the palace. They all said that the holy driver was here, and finally found it, and then helped the man into the car, shouting Hug to go. Both the monk and the prostitute were astonished, and secretly rejoiced that they hadn't offended him just now. In April of the seventh year of Kaibao (974), Jiangnan State held a celebration. Li Yu sent an invitation to Bianliang. Zhao Kuangyin took the opportunity to send Hanlin Bachelor Lu Duoxun to Jiangnan. espionage. Li Yu received Ludoxun with the highest courtesy, and arranged for someone to take this senior spy to play enough of Jinling's tourist attractions.Lu Duoxun had enough food, drink, and fun, and brought a lot of Jiangnan local specialties. The day before he left, he told Li Yu intentionally or unintentionally that the imperial court wanted to rebuild the world map, and the National History Museum lacked the territory of Jiangdong states.The implication is that Li Yu is required to provide a copy of the territory of Jiangnan. Although Li Yu was a little unwilling, he didn't dare to refuse, and arranged for someone to copy a Jiangnan map overnight and send it to Lu Duoxun.With this map, the terrain, military garrisons, and household registration numbers of the nineteen prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River are clear at a glance.These family backgrounds are state-level confidential information. Li Yu, a nerd, gave it away so easily. It is strange that the Southern Tang Dynasty did not perish. After Zhao Kuangyin got these precious materials, he sighed secretly: Li Yu, Li Yu, thank you for sending me such a generous gift. It's not that I want to destroy you, but you sent yourself to the guillotine! Just at this time, the young master Hou Zhou died of illness, and Zhao Kuangyin delayed for a while to deal with the funeral. After all, the throne was taken from others, and he felt somewhat uneasy, so the funeral was held in a grand manner. Old ministers see, secondly, it also makes their conscience a little easier.Just after the funeral, Prime Minister Zhao Pu had another problem. Zhao Pu was the founding father of the Song Dynasty. He was one of the planners of the Chen Qiao Mutiny. It was also his idea to drink wine to release military power.After becoming prime minister, for more than ten years, he assisted Zhao Kuangyin to lead the court. He did his work impressively and won Zhao Kuangyin's trust.It may be that his family's feng shui is exhausted, and bad luck befalls him one by one. Zhao Kuangyin has a habit of going out for a stroll after retiring from the court. As long as he is happy, he will go out of the palace at any time, go to the market, or visit some courtier's house. Zaichen was very nervous and did not dare to take off his court clothes when he went home.Because the courtiers have to wear regular court clothes when they see the emperor, otherwise they will be disrespectful, and being disrespectful is deceiving the emperor. Who can afford such a crime? One night, on a whim, Zhao Kuangyin left the palace again.When I first left the palace, I just wanted to visit the markets in the capital.At that time, the commerce in Bianliang was very developed, especially in the area from Donghuamen Street, Suanzaomen to Panlou Street. Some pearl, cloth, fragrant medicine shops, gold, silver, and color silk exchanges were all concentrated in this area. The shop is spacious, the facade is lavish, and the transaction volume is often tens of millions, which is very scary.Zhao Kuangyin approached the intersection of Donghuamen Street, suddenly remembered something, turned around and walked towards Prime Minister Zhao Pu's house. It just so happened that that night, Zhao Pu had just received a guest sent by Qian Chu, king of Wuyue, who said that the prime minister had worked so hard for the country, so he sent ten cans of seafood to the prime minister to nourish his body.The guests had just left, and the seafood was still in the corridor, Zhao Pu didn't have time to open the can to take a look, and suddenly heard a report from his family, saying that the emperor had already entered the house, and Zhao Kuangyin had already entered the hall before he had time to change clothes. Zhao Kuangyin saw ten porcelain pots in the corridor, so he casually asked what they were.Zhao Pu didn't dare to lie, and said that it was the ten cans of seafood sent by King Wuyue. Although Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Pu are monarchs and ministers, they have a good personal relationship.Hearing that the seafood was just sent by King Wuyue, he said happily: "Seafood? It must be delicious, right? Take it out and let me taste it too." Zhao Pu felt a little embarrassed, because he knew in his heart that if the messenger said it was seafood, there might be articles in the seafood, because it was only ten cans of seafood, not worth a lot of money, and there was no need to send them all the way from Wuyue to the capital. .But the emperor opened Jinkou, and he didn't dare to disobey, so he had to ask his family to bring tools to open the jar. When the jar was opened, Zhao Kuangyin was dumbfounded, and so was Zhao Pu.It turned out that what was in the jar was not seafood, but glistening golden melon seeds. Zhao Pu once said that people and ministers receive and donate without selfishness. Now that such a thing happened, he was very embarrassed and stammered: "I didn't open the jar, so I don't know that the jar is filled with yellow and white things." Zhao Kuangyin sighed and said: "You might as well accept it! His intention of coming is very clear. He thinks that you are the scholar who decides the affairs of the country, so he sent you such a precious gift." After finishing speaking, he turned and walked away. Although Zhao Kuangyin didn't say much, he conveyed a signal that Zhao Pu's power was so great that it threatened the imperial power, and even the neighboring countries knew that if he wanted to get Zhao Song's care, he had to bribe Zhao Song's prime minister, Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu sent Zhao Kuangyin away in a hurry, recalling the tone of the emperor's speech when he left, it was like falling into an ice cellar in winter, and it was completely cold inside and out.For several days after that, Zhao Pu kept spying on Zhao Kuangyin's face, but Zhao Kuangyin's face didn't show any reaction, he couldn't read anything, and his attitude towards him was the same as before, it didn't seem to have changed. some. Unexpectedly, one wave is not smooth, and another wave will rise again.Zhao Pu wanted to build a house, so he sent his cronies to Qinlong to buy wood.Under the banner of Zhao Pu, this confidant took the opportunity to buy some more and shipped them to the capital to resell them for huge profits. At that time, the imperial court clearly stipulated that the smuggling of Qinlong timber was prohibited.Zhao Pu sent people to buy it privately, and he also made a profit from it, which is a big trick. Zhao Xuan, the third secretary, knew about this and sued Zhao Kuangyin for the imperial court.Zhao Kuangyin listened to Zhao Yu's report and thought of the melon seed gold incident last time, so he got angry and cursed: "Zhao Pu is really a greedy guy!" . The old prime minister Wang Pu knew about this matter, fearing that Zhao Pu had too much power, he tried his best to excuse him, so the edict was not issued, and Zhao Pu escaped.In fact, it was because Zhao Kuangyin couldn't bear to attack Zhao Pu and borrowed a donkey to go downhill. Zhao Ting was not the first person to impeach Zhao Pu. Sihu joined the army and Lei Dexiang also reported on Zhao Pu. Someone reported this incident to Zhao Pu.Zhao Pu dismissed Lei Dexiang as an official and sent him to Lingwu County. Zhao Kuangyin also heard about this matter, but did not pursue it. Lei Youlin, Lei Dexiang's son, knew that Zhao Pu deliberately excluded his father, and he searched for evidence day and night to take revenge on Zhao Pu.After investigation and investigation, not only did they find out many major evidences of Zhao Pu's corruption and bribery, but even several party members around him, such as Hu Zan and Li Kedu, the rear officials, and Cheng Wangdong, the secretary, took pictures of Cai's chief secretary Liu Wei, Zong Zhengcheng, Zhao Fu and others were also involved.In order to achieve a hit, Lei Youlin directly brought the matter to the emperor. After Zhao Kuangyin learned of this incident, he was furious and asked Dali Temple to immediately discuss how to punish these corrupt officials.As a result, Liu Wei, the head secretary of Cai Shang, was sent to Caishikou to beheaded; the secretary Cheng Wangdong and Zong Zhengcheng Zhao Fu were beaten 80 times each, and then demoted to the people; All property was confiscated.Lei Youlin reported meritorious service and was promoted to Secretary Provincial Zhengzi, and he was also rewarded generously. But for how to deal with Zhao Pu, Zhao Kuangyin has been unable to make up his mind. Although he also knows that punishing only a few middle-level officials and letting Zhao Pu go, it is unavoidable that he would just hit a fly and let a tiger go, but he still can't bear to treat this confidant in need. , Zhao Pu, who was at the turn of the commoners, started. Zhao Pu escaped punishment many times. Although the court ministers were a little dissatisfied, they just muttered a few words behind their backs. No one challenged him openly. Everything seemed to be calm.However, the tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop, and finally a person jumps out from behind the scenes. This person is Lu Duoxun, a Hanlin scholar. Lu Duoxun, a Hanlin scholar, is Zhao Pu's political opponent, and the two often bump into each other in court.Lu Duoxun was alert and knew that the emperor liked to read, so he often went to the history museum to check which books Zhao Kuangyin had picked up, and then borrowed the same books to go home and read them all night.When summoned the next day, Zhao Kuangyin asked the ministers about the things in the book, and only Lu Duoxun answered fluently. Everyone thought that Lu Duoxun was knowledgeable and admired him from the bottom of their hearts. Zhao Kuangyin also believed that Lu Duoxun had Because of his knowledge, he also appreciates him very much. As a result, Lu Duoxun became more and more popular in front of Zhao Kuangyin, and his weight among courtiers became more and more important. Although Zhao Pu had problems one after another, he was still not beaten to the ground. Lu Duoxun felt unwilling, so he appeared on the stage in person.Sued Zhao Pu in front of Zhao Kuangyin, saying that Zhao Pu sold some public land in Henan, Hebei and other places as private land and made a fortune; he also built many luxury houses in the capital and other places; he also operated shops and competed with the people for profit etc. Although Zhao Kuangyin didn't have an attack at the time, his anger had reached the limit from his expression.Knowing that the fire had been stirred up, Lu Doxun tactfully withdrew.After going out, I heard the sound of a glass being thrown from inside the house. After Lu Duoxun left the palace, he did not go home directly, but went to the mansion of Kaifeng Governor Zhao Guangyi.It seems that there seems to be some connection between Zhao Guangyi and the "reversal" activities. Zhao Kuangyin originally had a grudge against Zhao Pu, but after hearing Lu Duoxun's muttering, he gradually lost trust in Zhao Pu.So an imperial edict was issued, appointing Xue Juzheng and Lu Yuqing as political advisers, and adding two deputy prime ministers. This is called mixing sand and dispersing the power in Zhao Pu's hands. Zhao Pu is a smart man. He saw the problem from the personnel changes, and took the initiative to submit a letter to Zhao Kuangyin to resign, not to be prime minister, and to go home to retire. Zhao Kuangyin did not persuade him to stay, and issued an imperial edict to remove Zhao Pu from the position of prime minister and to serve as the envoy of the Three Cities of Heyang.The position of prime minister was temporarily delegated by Xue Juzheng, and his younger brother Zhao Guangyi was granted the title of King of Jin, who was still in charge of the Bianliang Mansion, and the court rank was ahead of the prime minister; his younger brother Zhao Guangmei was also appointed as an attendant; When Zhao Pu left Beijing, he wrote a letter to Zhao Kuangyin, telling himself: "The emperor's brother is righteous, loyal and filial, and outsiders say that the minister underestimates the emperor's brother. How dare the minister do such a thing? This is a divisive word from outsiders." What's more, I heard and recorded the Queen Mother's will before she died, so how can you be of two minds? Your Majesty, Mo Ruojun, please be careful." Here, Zhao Pu mentioned for the first time the Queen Mother's last order, namely the Alliance of the Golden Chamber. He seemed to be confessing something, but he didn't say anything clearly.It seems that Zhao Pu's dismissal is not as simple as it seems on the surface. Zhao Pu is a very serious person. He has been a minister for ten years. He is resolute and decisive. He takes the affairs of the world as his own responsibility and is very persistent in doing things.Once, he thought that someone was suitable for a position, and recommended this person to Zhao Kuangyin, but Zhao Kuangyin disagreed; the next day, he recommended him again, but Zhao Kuangyin still disagreed; on the third day, he continued to recommend.Zhao Kuangyin got angry, tore up his memorial and threw it on the ground.With a calm expression, Zhao Pu picked up the torn memorial from the ground, took it back, pasted it with paste, and presented the pasted memorial to Zhao Kuangyin on the fourth day.Zhao Kuangyin finally agreed, and after inspection, he was really competent. Another time, a famous official made meritorious service and should be promoted to an official position.However, Zhao Kuangyin didn't like this person very much, so he suppressed this person's promotion.Zhao Pu asked many times that this person should be promoted.Zhao Kuangyin was very annoyed, and said unhappily: "I don't like this person, but I won't give him a promotion, what can you do?" Zhao Pu was not intimidated by Zhao Kuangyin's aura, and he still argued with reason, saying that punishment is used to punish evil, and rewards are used to reward merit.Who is punished and who is rewarded depends on whether the person has done something wrong or made some meritorious service. How can His Majesty govern the country according to one's own likes and dislikes? This was not pleasant to say, but Zhao Kuangyin couldn't refute it, so he got up and left.Zhao Pu followed behind Zhao Kuangyin and refused to leave. Zhao Kuangyin entered the palace, and Zhao Pu stood at the gate of the palace for several hours. This shows that Zhao Pu did not intend to flatter the emperor Zhao Kuangyin, and he chose the latter in terms of loyalty to the emperor or the Song court, which may have touched the dispute between the imperial power and the prime minister.Zhao Kuangyin is a wise king, he tolerated Zhao Pu. On economic issues, Zhao Pu accepted bribes and sheltered his subordinates, which violated the law. Thinking of this, Zhao Kuangyin sighed secretly, how could such a talent not be able to withstand the temptation of money?Is it right or wrong to treat him like this?After thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't figure out a clue, so he put it down and ordered the servant in charge of the file to hide Zhao Pu's upper watch in the golden chamber. After Zhao Pu dismissed as prime minister, Lu Duoxun was promoted to be a political adviser and became a deputy prime minister. In this official wrestling, Lu Duoxun temporarily gained the upper hand and became the winner. Lu Duoxun's father had served as Shaoyin and had rich experience in officialdom. He was old and was at home.He learned that his son sued Zhao Pu in front of the emperor, which caused Zhao Pu to dismiss him. He sighed and said: "Zhao Pu is the founding father of the country. The boy is ignorant. If he slanders his ancestors, he will definitely be punished in the future. I must die early, so as not to see the current newspapers." .” Lu Duosun's father died of illness not long after.Lu Duoxun was his father, Ding You, and later he was ordered to recover and went to work as usual, which won Zhao Kuangyin's trust.As for retribution or not, that is a matter for the future.