Volume 3 Chapter 37: Reconciliation (Part 2)
After all, Zhao Jiu did not lose his temper with the new scholar. Deep down and on the surface, he was still a reasonable person... Moreover, he had just had a heart-to-heart talk with Yue Fei and Zhang Rong, and explained that although the matter started with capturing a son-in-law, the hidden danger that could lead to conflict lay in the separation of civil and military officials.
How can you vent your anger on someone who is younger than you?
From this perspective, Emperor Zhao seems to know what is important.
Therefore, instead of being scolded or beheaded in the Daxiangguo Temple, Yu Yunwen was able to relax in the courtyard with the emperor and two military governors while a powerful official was guarding the door. He also drank a new drink developed by the Daxiangguo Temple, which the emperor called rock sugar and snow pear throat soothing tea, and took the opportunity to gossip.
At this time, because there was an official present, everyone spoke more carefully, except for this newly-minted scholar, who was still young, and whose first time out of Sichuan and also whose first time drinking rock sugar and snow pear wine with the official. He seemed particularly excited and frank in his words, and basically said what he meant.
All I can say is that this person is young after all.
However, communication is still necessary and effective. Since both parties are so sensible, things will be much easier.
Finally, after repeated hints and questioning from the officials, and confirming that the so-called "parents' orders" of the newly-minted scholar were not excuses and that he really seemed to be a mama's boy, the officials simply agreed to let him stay here overnight, and to perform a polite and graceful scene in front of the Daxiangguo Temple tomorrow, and then leave separately without further entanglement.
Emperor Zhao did not stay long, but asked the masters of Daxiangguo Temple to prepare some "rock sugar and snow pear" to bring to the palace, and then he left.
Nothing happened that day, and the next day, because Yu Yunwen "escaped unscathed", the matter seemed to be uneventful. It was just a little joke to add to this year's extremely successful Grand Enke, but it was not as earth-shattering as Hu Quan's article.
But on that day, the young official claimed to be ill and did not show up at the Qionglin Banquet that he was supposed to host.
At the beginning, several ministers did not take it seriously and thought that the emperor was sick again... Of course, this illness referred to a heart disease, which had occurred once before when he was offering sacrifices to the eight tombs in Luoyang. It was an old problem.
After all, Emperor Zhao is just a young man in his early twenties. If he is unhappy, it is normal for him to have some disagreements with his ministers. It will be fine after a few days, right?
However, another day passed, on August 14, when the new Jinshi were appointed as officials, Emperor Zhao still hid in Yanfu Palace and did not come out. He only asked the chief escort Lan Gui to hand over two notes.
One was to order all the generals to return to their respective defense areas after the Mid-Autumn Festival and to be careful of the autumn... this was self-evident; the other was a special decree to appoint Hu Quan as the editor of the Privy Council, and Yu Yunwen and Hu Hong as the attendants... It did not even interfere with the appointment of the top scorer and the two runners-up.
At this time, the ministers of the capital and the Privy Council had just learned from Lan Gui that Emperor Zhao was really ill. He had been listless for two days and could not even practice archery and calligraphy.
At this moment, the ministers were panicked... After all, the heir to the throne was gone, and Emperor Zhao was the only heir after all. Although it was only a minor illness, what if it was delayed? Moreover, after the imperial examination, the generals and ministers had to take their positions. Tomorrow, August 15th, after the Mid-Autumn Festival, it would be the so-called post-autumn period. We should be careful to guard against the autumn and prepare for the Jin people. How could we not be on guard?
Therefore, Prime Minister Lu Haowen and other three ministers only had a brief discussion in the capital hall diagonally opposite the Xuande Tower, and then they jointly submitted a memorial, citing the reason of preventing autumn in wartime and the incident in Nanyang as an example, hoping to restore the old custom of having the prime ministers enter the palace to keep watch at night.
When Zhao Jiu received the note, he immediately sent Lan Gui out from the palace to reply again, saying that the three prime ministers had to deal with military and national affairs of the capital, the province and the Privy Council, and had to stand guard every three days, which was too hard... If there was anything inappropriate, he might as well have the six ministers take turns to be on duty in the palace.
This is a bit ridiculous!
The political tradition and the political power class are there. The prime minister is the prime minister after all, and the chancellor is just the chancellor. If there is something really important, let alone the chancellor, even if six chancellors plus a chief censor come together, they will not be as useful as a prime minister.
You have to know that the prime minister has the right to participate in politics and can make decisions at critical moments. Moreover, the prime minister's decisions are recognized by people inside and outside the palace and the whole country. Relatively speaking, the Chief Censor is only called "half prime minister" because he has certain power of criticism and a clamping effect on the prime minister. The title of the six ministers is even more ridiculous.
The matter was of great importance, so the three ministers quickly jointly submitted a hastily written note, directly pointing out the official's mistakes and asking Official Lan to hand it back.
Emperor Zhao also corrected his mistake and immediately asked Official Lan to come back. He agreed to the suggestion that the prime ministers should take turns to be on duty in the palace, but at the same time he also pointed out that a deputy privy envoy could be added to reduce the burden.
This time, because he was ill, he did not directly appoint anyone, but asked the prime ministers together with the ministers of the capital and the Privy Council to immediately discuss a suitable candidate... But they had to be quick, because tomorrow was Mid-Autumn Festival, and then it would be the 'after autumn'.
After hearing this, the ministers understood that even if the emperor was really unwell, it was a combination of real and fake illnesses.
However, even though they understood the situation, these three people would never give up this opportunity... because this was about recommending the Prime Minister.
Politics is about personnel, and this is a personnel issue of the highest level. Whether it is public or private, it is of fundamental importance.
However, this matter ultimately requires the final decision from Emperor Zhao, so one must try one's best to recommend someone from among his own pockets who can be recognized by the Emperor, or in other words, find a candidate that one recognizes the most from among the Emperor's pockets.
Anyway, that's what I mean.
“What a pity.”
Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, but Prime Minister Wang Boyan sat in his study, staring at a blank piece of paper without moving the entire night. As a result, his newly chosen son-in-law Zhao Boyao and his son Wang Yi also sat there for half the day without enjoying any family meals.
"If you really don't have any other candidate, why not do me a favor or find someone the emperor likes the most to recommend?" Zhao Boyao, who had already been appointed as the magistrate of Ruzhou, hesitated for a moment and looked at the other person carefully. As the ceremony had not been officially completed and the decision had only been made, the new number one scholar only respectfully addressed his future father-in-law as "sir".
"That's not what I meant."
Wang Boyan sighed. "After the Kang Lu and Huang Qianshan case, I have been able to stay in the position of Privy Councilor for a long time, which is already a great favor from the emperor. Now that things have come to this, how could I have the intention of seeking my own support and offending the emperor and my colleagues? But at this moment, I suddenly thought of one person, which is really a pity, so I sigh..."
Zhao Boyao naturally didn't understand, but Wang Yi's heart was slightly moved, and then he realized: "Father, are you feeling sorry for my brother?"
"Yes, if your senior brother were here, his qualifications, knowledge, ability, and character would be a good opportunity to promote him to the position of prime minister..." Wang Boyan nodded slightly, then shook his head. "I still remember that when I was young and poor, I was favored by Magistrate Wang in my hometown. He built a talent hall in the county and asked me to work there as a teacher so that I could supplement my family income. Your senior brother happened to be Magistrate Wang's nephew, so he was specially brought to the small hall to study with me. At that time, some people lamented that this small courtyard would produce two prime ministers in the future... Now I have become the prime minister, but your senior brother is still lingering in the north. I wonder how much suffering he must be going through?"
Zhao Boyao was puzzled for a moment, so he looked at his brother-in-law.
Wang Yi was straightforward: "This man was the main leader of the Jingkang Incident, the Imperial Censor Qin Hui... During the Jingkang Incident, he was captured by the Jin army for maintaining his loyalty."
At this point, Wang Yi paused for a moment, and added, "I don't know much else, but at least when my father sent someone to redeem me last year, he and the many ministers and noble children who followed the two emperors to the north were all unaware of the news."
Zhao Boyao had already been in awe.
This is of course... You have to know that during the Jingkang Incident, it was not just the two emperors and the men and women of the royal family who were captured in the north. Many children of the nobles in Tokyo and many ministers were also abducted by the Jin people at that time.
And these are all tacitly regarded as models of chastity.
What else?
Do we have to treat him as a traitor to the Song Dynasty?
Among these captured ministers, some of the more radical ones knew what the Jin people were like and ended their lives early, such as Liu Qian, the father of Liu Ziyu, who was the chief secretary of the Privy Council; some of them had held on to a glimmer of hope before, but found out they were deceived after entering the Jin camp and chose to die for their country, such as Li Ruoshui, the brother of Hanlin scholar Li Ruopu; but those who remained loyal to their loyalty, bowed their heads and followed the two emperors in the hunt to the north were undoubtedly loyal ministers!
If this is not considered a loyal minister, then what is Zhang Shuye, who was captured and died in Baigou? How to define him?
Does it mean that only those who died before the national border are considered loyal ministers, and those who died after crossing the border or those who never died are traitors of the Song Dynasty?
Those who stayed behind don't have the face to say such things.
Moreover, before Qin Hui left, he was a recognized leader of the pro-war faction. When the Jin army demanded to cede land and the ministers could not agree, Emperor Yuansheng asked all officials in the capital to gather for a public discussion. More than 30 people headed by Qin Hui firmly opposed it. On the contrary, more than 70 people headed by Fan Zongyin, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, who is now sitting safely in the capital and seems to have a bright future, expressed their agreement.
Afterwards, Qin Hui was promoted to Chief Censor, which further solidified his status as the leader of the young and vigorous faction that advocated war.
That’s not all. After the Jingkang Incident, the two emperors were detained in the Jin camp. It was Ma Shen (now the governor of Hubei), a censor under Qin Hui, who initiated the movement. Many loyal officials jointly requested the Jin people to release the Zhao and Song clan members and continue to make the Zhao family the emperor. The leaders were Qin Hui and Zhang Shuye.
This is an even greater achievement and proof of loyalty.
It can be said that as long as there is no news of this kind of person's surrender, he will be a role model for young scholars all over the world.
Coming back to the present, Wang Boyan thought of his beloved disciple suffering in the north, and of his unyielding character during the Jing Kang period, and he almost cried... If this person were still alive, why would the emperor bring people like Zhang Jun and Hu Yin as his confidants, and why would he be so helpless?
Even for the sake of the national situation, it should be three points better, right?
However, doesn’t this mean that the person has not returned? Doesn’t this mean that we don’t know whether he is alive or dead?
But no matter what, things had to be done, so after mourning for a long time, Wang Shuxiang finally calmed down and prepared candidates... He picked up a pen and wrote many names one after another on a piece of white paper on the desk in front of him.
The first one was Chen Gui, the Minister of War and the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture;
The second one was Li Guang, the Chief Censor;
The third one is Zhu Shengfei, the Minister of Rites;
The fourth was Wang Shu, the new Minister of Justice who had returned from Guanxi;
The fifth is Zhang Jun, the former Chief Censor and current Transport Commissioner of the Five Routes of Bashu;
The sixth one is Zhao Ding, the transport commissioner of Lianghuai;
The seventh is Ma Shen, the governor of Hubei;
The eighth is Lin Qi, the Minister of Revenue;
The ninth is Liang Yangzu, the Jiangnan Shipping Commissioner and Supervisor of Tea and Salt Affairs in Southeast China;
The tenth one is the Hanlin scholar Lin Jingmo;
The eleventh one is Fan Zongyin, a senior official in the Secretariat;
The twelfth is Liu Ziyu, a senior official of the Privy Council, the head of the Ministry of Personnel and the chief imperial secretary;
The thirteenth one was Yan Xiaozhong, the prefect of Nanyang Prefecture;
The fourteenth is Lu Xing, a senior general, Yue Fei’s former superior and Zong Ze’s former subordinate…
After finishing writing with all his heart, Wang Boyan discussed with his son and son-in-law. They would say a name and discuss what was not acceptable. If it was really not acceptable, they would remove the name... Naturally, his son and son-in-law would understand the opinion of their husband.
"How is Minister Chen?" Wang Boyan pointed at the first name and asked seriously. "He is the one with the highest military merit among the six ministers. He is the best in military knowledge among the important officials and is also the most trusted person of the emperor."
"Too many part-time jobs." Wang Yi replied seriously. "The Minister of War and the Prefect of Kaifeng, the former is in charge of logistics and military equipment, and the latter is in charge of the defense of the capital. These are important responsibilities that cannot be easily resigned at this time. If I take these two positions as the Minister of the Western Palace, my authority will be too great."
Wang Boyan nodded slowly, and he knew that his son had something else he hadn't said yet... that is, if Chen Gui took these two part-timers with him to become the Deputy Privy Envoy, then this guy would not only have Lu Yihao's temperament but also have Lu Yihao's practicality. Wouldn't he, Lord Wang, be bullied again in the West Mansion?
"Chen Dayin is an expert in law, and..." The new number one scholar also carefully raised some opinions, but as soon as he finished giving a reason, Lord Taishan took action.
"I almost forgot about this." Wang Boyan raised his hand and pointed at Chen Gui. "Ming Fa is really too low."
Zhao Boyao and Wang Yi nodded in unison… The Mingfa exam in the Song Dynasty only tested 40 articles of Mo Yi and the three minor classics, and its status was the lowest among all the subjects. Although Chen Gui was a civil official, his status in the imperial examination was probably even lower than Qu Duan. It was the times that made heroes, otherwise this Minister of War and the prefect of Kaifeng would have only been a county magistrate for his entire life.
In a word, this is a fatal flaw!
"How is Li Zhongcheng?" Wang Boyan continued to ask without raising his head.
"Li Taifa was just promoted to the position of Zhongcheng." Wang Yi smiled bitterly. "And he is a close friend of Li Gang, the Prime Minister. After Li Gang left office, Li Guang was appointed as the Zhongcheng Yushi and Li Gang's third brother Li Jing was appointed as the Yushi. This was already a great appeasement and generosity of the government to Li Gang's family... How can it be further?"
"That's right." Wang Boyan also laughed. "Not to mention that the Li Gang family has done their utmost to hold this position, even if it's Lu Xianggong (Lv Haowen) and Lu Shixiang (Lv Yihao), how can they tolerate this kind of people taking one step further? For the same reason, Lin Qilin, the Minister of State, will not be considered."
As he spoke, Wang Shuxiang put a dot under Li Guang's name and drew a horizontal line under Lin Qi's name.
At the same time, the new champion finally understood why Lord Taishan wanted him to come here and sit alone... It was obvious that he wanted to teach him a lesson before he took office and make himself clear about the situation. His brother-in-law was captured by the Jin people and was privately redeemed by Lord Taishan. He would not be able to be used again in the short term. He might have to assist Lord Taishan with all his strength, so he came here specifically to explain to him.
Thinking of this, Zhao Boyao could not help but sit up straight.
"How is Zhu Shengfei?" Wang Boyan continued to ask.
"Minister Zhu is a good candidate, but unfortunately he is a figure in Lu's pocket," Wang Yi said without hesitation. "That's my only concern."
Wang Boyan nodded, circled Zhu Shengfei's name, and then continued to ask: "How about the Minister of Justice Wang Shu?"
"He has all the qualifications and status, but he is a defeated general, and he has just taken over... It's a pity that the previous Minister of Justice Quan Bangyan Quan Shangshu, but he can't do things like mourning, and it's too late."
Wang Boyan's expression remained unchanged. He just pointed at Wang Shu's name and then asked calmly:
"Zhang Jun, Zhao Ding, is it possible?"
"Sooner or later, these two will be appointed as prime ministers, but it is definitely too late now." Wang Yi was still quick. "After the Mid-Autumn Festival, I am afraid we have to be very careful about the movements of the Jin people. It is unlikely that the envoys, generals, and magistrates from various parties will be considered by the government."
Wang Boyan nodded, drew lines under the names of Zhang Jun, Zhao Ding, Ma Shen, Liang Yangzu, and Yan Xiaozhong, and then asked:
"How is Lin Jingmo?"
"A little young, but that's the only reason." Wang Yi answered fluently.
Wang Shu nodded repeatedly, but he circled the name of Xiao Lin Xue Shi, and drew a line under the names of Fan Zong Yin and Liu Zi Yu:
"If Scholar Lin cannot do this for these junior and younger people in the capital, then neither can the others."
The new number one scholar and his brother-in-law nodded heavily in unison.
"Lü Xing..." Wang Boyan saw the last name and just read it out, he burst out laughing and took the initiative to cross out the name. "It's not that serious yet, but it's time to write it down and then cross it out."
There were two people sitting next to each other, both silent.
"So, it is between Minister Zhu and Scholar Lin?" Wang Yi asked softly.
Wang Boyan looked at the list and nodded.
Wang Yi was also relieved for a moment: "Two are enough. Since Dad is not interested, just write them both up and send them up, and let the official choose for himself."
Wang Boyan nodded again, but did not start writing.
After a while, the man spoke frankly, "If that's the case, why did the emperor wait until today to ask? If he was interested in these two, he should have appointed them directly when Lu came south."
At this point, to the slight surprise and shock of Wang Yi and Zhao Boyao, Wang Shuxiang actually crossed out Mr. Xiaolin and Zhu Shengfei, and found a new piece of paper and wrote Li Guang, Chen Gui, and Wang Shu again.
Not only that, Wang Boyan actually asked the two juniors in a serious tone: "Has any of Li Zhongcheng, Chen Shangshu, or Wang Shangshu done anything wrong recently? Have they done something wrong in private, or have they made mistakes in their work?"
Zhao Boyao hesitated for a moment, but under the encouraging eyes of his father-in-law and brother-in-law, he spoke: "Sir, I just wanted to say that Minister Chen encountered a case recently."
"……?"
"Wang Zhi, a native of De'an Prefecture, a descendant of Ouyang Xiu, a lay scholar, and the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Zeng Bu, recently sued Minister Chen, saying that during the chaos in the past, Minister Chen, who was then the prefect of De'an, took away 40,000 volumes of his books on the pretext of avoiding disaster, and has not returned them to this day. He really couldn't stand it, so he appealed to the Ministry of Justice... When Minister Wang Shu first came, he only sent a letter to mediate, but Minister Chen claimed that the 40,000 volumes of books were scattered in De'an Prefecture and Nanyang Prefecture." Zhao Boyao hurriedly said carefully. "There was a lot of discussion about this matter before, but it was suppressed for a while because of the disturbance caused by Wang Xie's murder... Everyone knows that it was Minister Chen who took away the 40,000 volumes of Wang's collection of books."
"My son also knows about this." Wang Yi was also thoughtful. "It is said that Chen Gui once scolded Wang Zhi privately, saying that Wang Zhi was incompetent. The 40,000 volumes of books were just gathering dust in Wang's house. They were useful in his hands... People in the capital said that Minister Chen was a thief who really stole the 40,000 volumes of books and was not magnanimous enough."
Wang Boyan was stunned for a long time, but suddenly he sneered: "How can a scholar's work be called stealing? Moreover, even if he is not qualified to be a deputy envoy of the Privy Council, can't he be a signatory of the Privy Council?"
After saying this, the Western Palace official directly opened the letter and carefully filled in the name of Chen Gui, the Minister of War who was a thief and graduated from the Ming Dynasty Law School, on the already written recommendation letter.
After finishing writing, Mr. Wang felt relieved for a while.
At this time, Wang Yi had already been lost in thought, but the newly crowned champion could not help but say, "The emperor's original intention is to ask you and the two governors to jointly guarantee and recommend Minister Chen?"
"That's right, but it's more than that." Wang Boyan turned his head to face his son-in-law, twirling his beard and sighing. "With the power of the government now, if they really want to promote him, they will. But after all this, they let us be the ones to promote him. It's not something that can be explained away by saying that they are protecting their reputation."
"Please give me some advice, sir." Zhao Boyao became more earnest.
"I presume that the emperor was originally hesitating between Minister Quan Bangyan and Minister Chen, and since Minister Quan was in mourning, Minister Chen should have been decided and was to be responsible for the defense of Tokyo." Wang Boyan said seriously. "As for this disposal, it is because there has been no war in the capital for seven or eight months, and people are at peace. The emperor is afraid that we will insist on following the precedents and rules and neglect the overall military situation, so he made an effort to remind us... In my opinion, the emperor's problem is three-tenths because Minister Chen did not cultivate himself and gave others an advantage, and seven-tenths because the old customs in the court have resurfaced and forgotten that the Jin people are coming. Shi Yan (Zhao Boyao's name)!"
"I'm here." Zhao Boyao was shocked.
"When you go to Ruzhou this time, you must not talk about empty etiquette, and put the overall situation of resisting the Jin Dynasty first... If there are any mistakes, I hope you can learn from my student Qin Huizhi and be a man of integrity!" Wang Boyan reminded him. "Don't forget, you are the first number one scholar since the emperor ascended the throne, and you are also from the royal family! The hatred of the country and the family are all in one thought!"
Zhao Boyao stood up solemnly and bowed solemnly.
At almost the same time, in the Prime Minister's Mansion of the capital province, Lu Haowen, who was sitting alone in the study, looked at the two circles of "Chen Gui" drawn in front of him, sighed slightly, and then began to write a letter of recommendation.
On the second day, the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15, three prime ministers each submitted a memorial, recommending candidates to guard the Privy Council on the grounds that the Jin army might move south after the autumn, the military affairs in the capital were complicated, and the Privy Council was vacant... Prime Minister Lu Haowen of the capital province and Deputy Privy Councilor Wang Boyan both recommended Chen Gui, the Minister of War and Prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture. Deputy Prime Minister Xu Jingheng of the capital province jointly recommended Hanlin scholar Lin Jingmo, Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei, and Minister of War Chen Gui.
The emperor, who was still ill, was willing to accept the advice. He believed that the public opinion could not be violated and that military affairs were serious. He issued an imperial decree to follow the old rules and sign the affairs of the Privy Council. He also restored the old practice of Nanyang, put the entire city under military control, and moved the capital province and the Privy Council to the Chongwenyuan in the palace. He also had the prime ministers take turns to be on duty in the palace at night for consultation.
In the afternoon of the same day, the capital province and the Privy Council each issued an official order, which was issued to the entire city through Kaifeng Prefecture... The capital province advised civilians, women and children that if they could rely on the south, they could leave the capital, but young and strong military personnel were not allowed to leave at will without the approval of Kaifeng Prefecture, and were not allowed to take military supplies and food with them. The Privy Council announced that all property in the city would be placed under military control that day, and if there were military needs, such as house demolition and requisitioning, no one should disobey. All young and strong people in the city would be registered for possible deployment!
When the decree and imperial edict were issued, the whole city was shocked. The population of Tokyo, which had been expanding, suddenly stagnated and even began to flow back... In a trance, the prosperity of the previous six months seemed like a mirage.
A day later, after bidding farewell to the emperor, whose situation had improved somewhat, at Yeonbok Palace, the generals led their personal soldiers, fully armored, out of Tokyo City and assigned to various defense zones.
The state of war preparedness can no longer be concealed.
