Prime Minister

The Chinese envoy knocked on the gate of Zeng Bu's mansion suddenly at night.

Zeng Bu read the official handwriting, "I heard that the purchase of goods by Yiwu in the market is against the original intention of the court's legislation at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, and it is quite harmful to the people's business. There are many chattering, which is not convenient. If there are any rude words, you must know. It can be played in detail'.

It can be said that the officials gave such a memorial to Zeng out of the blue, which is very meaningful.

Zeng Bu thought for a while and said to humanity: "Let Wei Jizong come over to see you."

Who is Wei Jizong?
This market exchange method is derived from his suggestion.Later, when the Shiyi Division was established, although Wei Jizong was an official in the Shiyi Division, he was directly ignored by Lu Jiawen, who was promoted to the Shiyi Division, and did not discuss any content of the Shiyi Division with Wei Jizong.

This made Wei Jizong very dissatisfied.

Zeng Bu was acquainted with Wei Jizong. Before he became the third envoy, he visited Hedong and recruited Wei Jizong as his undercover.

When Wei Jizong arrived, he heard Zeng Bu ask about Shi Yifa, so he criticized Lu Jiawen for what he had done.It is said that the current Department of Market Change is only focusing on its own interests, consolidating its market, and searching for people's wealth, which has long violated the original purpose of the imperial court.

After hearing what Wei Jizong said, Zeng Bu thought a little bit.

When Lu Jiawen was in the Shiyi Division, relying on Wang Anshi's power, he did not pay attention to Xue Xiang, the envoy of the third division.Lu Jiawen told Wang Anshi several times that Xue Xiang had hindered the Shiyi Division, which indirectly caused the other party to leave office.

Now that Zeng Bu himself serves as the third envoy, he knows that Lu Jiawen is extremely arrogant.Yisi in this city was originally the third division, but Lu Jiawen instead rode on the third division's head to do his best.

It will be a matter of time before Zeng Bu's appointment as the third envoy conflicts with Lu Jiawen.

At this moment, the officials issued an edict to consult him again, and Zeng Bu knew that the officials had already questioned Wang Anshi several times about the market change law.

Zeng Bu thought to himself that the officials must intend to change the market and change the law, but they didn't get the chance.

Thinking of this, Zeng Bu said to Wei Jizong, "Follow me to the Prime Minister's residence!"

Immediately, Zeng Bu and Wei Jizong went to Wang Anshi's residence overnight.The officials wanted Zeng Bu to reply immediately, but Zeng Bu decided to go to Wang Anshi's mansion to inform first.

When the two arrived at Wang Anshi's mansion, Wang Anshi was about to lie down and rest.

Wang Anshi knew that Zeng Bu must have something important to come here overnight, so he got up to meet him immediately.

Zeng Bu told Wang Anshi about the government's edict to inquire about the law of the city.

Wang Anshi saw Wei Jizong again, and the other party truthfully told the question of the Shiyi Division: "My lord, if anyone in Bianjing city dares to compete with Shiyi for business, he must follow Lu Jia's intention, otherwise he will be punished." , the big one will be in charge!"

Wang Anshi was taken aback when he heard the words. His original intention was to set up the Yishi Division to destroy those mergers in the capital who monopolize the industry.

Unexpectedly, all the annexes ran away, and as a result, the government itself turned into a dragon. Whichever line Shi Yisi entered, that line was corrupted.All merchants who dare to compete in the market will be punished if they are small, and supervised if they are big.

Wang Anshi said to Wei Jizong: "You knew this earlier, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Wang Anshi immediately thought, yes, someone told him already, both Wen Yanbo and Zhang Yue objected.But Wang Anshi didn't listen to it at the time, thinking it was a dispute of political opinions.

A dispute of political opinions is a struggle for power, and Wang Anshi was correct for the sake of being correct.

Seeing Wang Anshi's expression, Zeng Bu asked, "Your Majesty will ask Bu about this matter tomorrow, can you answer with today's words?"

Wang Anshi nodded and said, "Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Zeng Bu happily said, "Thank you, Mr. Bu!"

……

The next day, the officials met with Zeng Bu in the Chongzheng Hall. Zeng Bu told the officials everything he had said, and finally said: "What Lu Jiawen did was to coerce the government into an annexation."

The officials were overjoyed and asked, "Does Wang Xianggong know?"

Zeng preached: "Know."

"How do you think?"

Zeng Bu thought for a while and said, "My Xianggong said that the matter has not been investigated, and there is no truth or falsehood."

The official shook his head and said, "I've heard about it for a long time. Even if I didn't review it, I'm afraid it's already halfway through."

The official was about to place the letter presented by Zeng Bu next to the imperial palace, and seeing the haggard look of the official, Zeng Bu quickly comforted him and said, "Your Majesty is so worried about the people, and the sky will surely send nectar."

The official said with a smile, "it's okay. I know the truth of the people because of you."

Zeng Bu lowered his head and said, "Although I'm weak, my servant dare not not do my best."

After Zeng Bu left, the officials looked at Zeng Bu's back and thought to themselves, this man is really an honest man.

……

Afterwards, Wang Anshi entered the house to play a role, and the officials asked Wang Anshi, "Zeng Bu said that it is inconvenient to change the law in the market, do you know?"

Wang Anshi said: "I know."

What the officials said was also to test the two of them verbally, to see if they had concealed anything.

The official picked up the letter from Tabian Zeng Bu and asked, "What did Zeng Bu say?"

Wang Anshi said: "The ministers of Yisi in this city are inspecting every day. I'm afraid it's not as good as what I said. Please don't rush your majesty. Rong Chen will investigate carefully so that Zhongliang won't be wronged."

After hearing this, the officials were unhappy and thought that it was all like this. If you, Wang Anshi, still don't admit your mistake, you are too stubborn.

The official asked, "Since that's the case, why did Zeng Bu say that?"

Wang Anshi said: "There is a gap between Zeng Bu and Lu Jia."

"But, but... Zeng Bu and Qing are very close, so they will never slander you!"

Wang Anshi said: "I don't dare to go against human feelings, I only know the facts."

After a pause, Wang Anshi said again: "The minister has been in power for a long time, and it will not help current affairs. Please change it, Your Majesty."

The official thought, Wang Anshi is doing this again, you suspect me, right? I quit.

The officials have been immune to this for a long time and said: "You don't have to say such a thing, one thing is one thing, I think it was Lu Jia who asked to deceive you, and it was not a personal grudge."

Wang Anshi said: "If your majesty suspects that Lu Jiawen is deceiving you, you can let Lu Huiqing also supervise the Shiyi Division."

Seeing that Wang Anshi finally "compromised", the officials felt powerless for a while.

A few days later, the Khitan envoy Xiao Xi came to deliver the letter of credence, and the officials met him in the Chongzheng Hall.

Xiao Xi first expressed Liao's dissatisfaction with Zhang Yue's attack on the Northwest, saying that Qingtang was the country of Khitan's in-laws (Dong Zhan's wife was the daughter of Liao Xingzong Yelvzongzhen), and the Song Dynasty looked at it for the sake of the big brother of Liao. The advance must be stopped.

Xiao Xi didn't know that Zhang Yue had already attacked Qingtang City, and thought that Zhang Yue was just attacking Taozhou.

Afterwards, Xiao Xi made a request from the ruler of the Liao Kingdom to redraw the land in the three prefectures of Wei, Ying, and Shuo, and claim the land in Guannan.

The officials asked Wang Anshi, and Wang Anshi said: "The Liao Kingdom saw that I was using troops to the northwest, so they wanted to test my falsity. They didn't dare to ask for more land, and they were afraid of angering the dynasty."

The officials were a little relieved after listening to Wang Anshi's analysis.

But Wen Yanbo took the initiative to fight back hard against Liao, so that the other party did not dare to underestimate the Central Plains.

Wang Anshi objected, thinking that Wen Yanbo was "anti-faking loyalty", and his intention was to prevent the imperial court from using troops in the northwest, and now the priority should be not to anger the Khitan.

Wen Yanbo was furious, so he proposed to the emperor to resign from the post of privy envoy.

Wang Anshi also expressed his resignation at the same time.

The officials appease the two of them, but they also returned to the palace upset. At this time, Empress Dowager Gao and her younger brother, King Qi, were about to see Empress Dowager Cao, so the officials went with them.

The empress dowagers of the two palaces talked for a while about whether the new law was correct, saying that Wang Anshi was not suitable to be prime minister, and the officials only agreed: "I don't know who else can take his place except Wang Anshi."

At this time, Empress Dowager Cao said: "Emperor Renzong has reserved a chancellor for His Majesty, so why not use it?"