Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 245 0240 [The wisdom of the old guys]

Holding the wheat futures contract, Qian Chen returned happily, rejecting the kind offer from the Wei family to stay.

5000 stones of wheat are enough, and the total price is [-] guan (foot hundred).Even if he wanted to buy more, he couldn't afford the deposit, and the Jinzhou government couldn't afford much money.

This trip was too smooth, beyond Qian Chen's expectations.His worst plan is that he will not be able to buy food in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, so he can only go to the Taihu Lake area to buy food.

Taihu Lake is far away, and the transportation cost is too high.

Sitting in the study, Wei Qun looked at the contract that had just been signed, with as ugly an expression as he wanted.

"Nizi, are you slandering your father?" Wei Tai stood behind the window leaning on a cane, watching his grandson lead the guests away.

Wei Qun said angrily, "Don't dare."

Wei Tai seemed to be recalling the past, and said quietly: "In the third year of Yuanfu, the new king succeeded to the throne. Zhang Zihou (Zhang Dun) once recommended me to be an official in the court. Do you know why I refused to enlist?"

Wei Qun replied: "Father is indifferent to fame and wealth."

"Fart," Wei Tai said, "Your father and I dream of being an official."

Wei Qun said again: "Because Zhang Zihou opposed Xinjun's father because he was afraid of being implicated by him?"

Wei Tai rolled his eyes at his son: "With Uncle Ni in court, how could I be implicated by Zhang Zihou?"

"Then what worries does father have?" Wei Qun asked curiously.

Wei Tai said, "I'm afraid of being implicated by your uncle."

Wei Qun: "..."

Wei Tai explained: "Your uncle's temperament is exactly the same as mine, and you can even say that he smells like me. I have already met the official when he was the king of Duan. He looks elegant, but in fact he has a small stomach. Your uncle's temper will be a prime minister sooner or later. Start a quarrel with the officials. When King Shu is here, it is difficult to implement the new law, so how can your uncle push it?"

In the history books, Zeng Bu was included in "Biography of Treacherous Officials".

But is Zeng Bu really a traitor?

Wang Anshi once said: "When discussing the new law, Zeng Buye is the one who always says what he says can be done; Sima Guangye who doesn't do what he says. The rest are all attached to the front and then rebelled, either going out or coming in."

Wang Anshi is extremely accurate in judging people, and Zeng Bu has been defending the new law all his life.

It's just that his way of defending made Wang Anshi so angry that he even impeached Lu Jiawen to exploit the common people by changing the law.

This gives the old party an excuse. The backbone of your new party criticizes the new law, which shows that there must be something wrong with the new law!
Zeng Bu's move was regarded as a betrayal by Wang Anshi, so he was demoted from the court.

But when the New Party gained power at that time, Zeng Bu was so full that he wanted to betray him?He really thought that the implementation of the Market Exchange Law had gone awry.

Later, the old party gained power and recalled Zeng Bu to the court, but Zeng Bu always maintained the new law, so he was rejected by the old party again.

It can be seen that he has never changed, and his insistence on the new law is purer than anyone else.

Zeng Bu's real problem is that he is too straightforward and a bit domineering.In order to drive away Cai Jing, he even threatened the queen mother who was in power face to face.

And Cai Jing didn't say anything, and forcibly demolished the house to the queen mother's younger brother, and Cai Jing went to settle the matter when it became serious.If Xiang's children had any troubles, it was Cai Jing who helped them. Of course, the Queen Mother wanted to protect Cai Jing to death.

Empress Dowager Xiang resigned, Song Huizong took charge, and Cai Jing was demoted to Hangzhou.

Zeng Bu, who was too strong, had a head-on conflict with Song Huizong.But Cai Jing frantically bribed Tong Guan, and contacted Zeng Bu's enemy Lu Jiawen, and easily brought Zeng Bu down.

Wei Tai said: "Your uncle's biggest mistake was supporting the current official. I tried to persuade him but he didn't listen."

"Who would have expected that the official family would be so stupid? The official family at that time was nothing more than an idle clan." Wei Qun said.

Wei Tai shook his head: "Your uncle and the official family were already flirting with each other before the late emperor died. There is also a son-in-law, Lieutenant Wang Shen. The three of them were secretly contacted by Gao Qiu. Otherwise, there would be so many palace officials. How can Gao Qiu be a captain? Is it true that Gao Qiu can only write and play football?"

Song Huizong once compared Gao Qiu to Song Chang.

Who is Song Chang?

Lu's family was punished and killed. The acting king Liu Heng was in doubt, and all his subjects advised him to wait and see.Only Song Chang suggested that Liu Heng go to Chang'an immediately, and Liu Heng went to Beijing to become Emperor Wen of Han.

So, think about it carefully, Song Huizong was able to succeed to the throne, what role did Gao Li play in it?
The situation at that time was that Song Huizong began to make friends with foreign relatives and clans such as Wang Shen and Zhao Lingrang several years in advance.Through the clan of relatives, the Queen Mother Xiang was repeatedly brainwashed, so that the Queen Mother Xiang had a good impression of King Duan.

Su Shi recommended Gao Qiu, a small official in the mansion, to Zeng Bu as a small official.

Zeng Bu said that he had enough small officials, so he threw it to Wang Shen.And Wang Shen sent Gao Qiu to send the scorpion knife to Duan Wang, probably taking the opportunity to send intelligence.Wang Shen has a criminal record and was reprimanded by Song Shenzong for "leaking the forbidden Chinese language".

That is to say, Zeng Bu was in charge of the outer court, Wang Shen was in charge of the inner court, and Gao Qiu was resident in Duanwang's mansion to be in charge of liaison.The three of them worked together to help Song Huizong up!

"It's useless to talk about your uncle," Wei Tai said, "I'm afraid Cai Jing won't be presumptuous for a few years."

Wei Qun said: "Cai Jing is old, and time is indeed short."

Wei Tai said: "The officials are very suspicious. Cai Jing is arrogant and domineering. How can he not be feared by the emperor? When Zheng Juzhong, Wang Fu and others are full-fledged, Cai Jing should retire and return home. Your second brother is also an official. Can’t cling to the treacherous party, this Zhu Chenggong is very good. He has been a court official at a young age, and he has a lot of legacy of King Shu, maybe he can initiate reforms when he is in charge of the court.”

"How many years will we have to wait?" Wei Qun felt unreliable.

Wei Tai said: "If you can't do it in ten years, it will be 20 years. King Shu and I have forgotten our friendship, and your uncle has always wanted to change the law and strengthen the country. Today's officials, many dare to scold Cai Jing, but few can do things after scolding Cai Jing .Zhu Chenggong's age is just right. He has only been in office for a month or two in Jinzhou, and he is able to overwhelm the judge without any resistance. I am ashamed of this method, very similar to your uncle when he was young."

Wei Qun didn't answer any more.

Wei Tai continued: "After the state examination this autumn, if Yingwu and Yingshi fail to pass the exam, let them go to Jinzhou to worship Zhu Chenggong as a teacher. The [-] guan lost in selling grain will be regarded as their apprentice ceremony. .”

Wei Yingwu and Wei Yingshi are the sons and nephews of Wei Qun.

Wei Qun was finally convinced: "Father still understands."

Wei Tai began to pretend again: "Is your father really a foolish old man? Back then, King Shu was a high-ranking and powerful man, but he hit it off with me at first sight. He would like to talk about friendship with me. Prince Shu would make friends with a fool Mi Yuanzhang (Mi Fu) is such a proud person. He came to Dengcheng to find me but he didn’t see me, so he rushed to Tokyo. Talk about poetry."

Wei Qun had already heard the cocoon in his ears, and immediately echoed it again and again, without interrupting his father's bragging.

……

Tokyo, Duke of Lu's Mansion.

Cai You went to his father's study with a letter, and when he saw his younger brother Cai Tiao was there, he was a little unhappy for a moment.

Cai Jing and Cai You turned against each other, and the key person was Cai Tiao.

In recent days, Cai Jing's eyesight has become worse and worse, and many official duties are handed over to Cai Tiao.After another two or three years, Cai Jing couldn't see things at all, so he entrusted everything to Cai Tiao, so Cai Tiao became the "Xiaoge Lao" in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Cai Tiao was also Han Qi's grandson-in-law, and he quoted a large number of former students and officials of the Han family, and suddenly became powerful.

Instead, Cai You became a marginal figure, and was so angry that he ran to Song Huizong to sue, asking the emperor to kill his younger brother.

At this moment, Cai Jing reads, Cai Tiao writes, the father is kind and the son is filial, a scene of harmony.

Cai You stood next to him full of jealousy. After this younger brother was released from office, he was more and more favored by his father, and he was also favored by the officials. The emperor affectionately called him "Cai Shisan" and "Thirteen Lang".

What happened to my brother?Not born of a mother.

Cai Tiao helped write the secret melody, and Cai Jingcai said, "What's the matter with Liu Lang?"

Cai You replied: "That guy Zhu Ming was transferred to Jinzhou, he did all kinds of mischief, he prohibited the people from panning for gold, and caused great harm to the people's livelihood. Li Daochong was judged to be difficult to deal with. How about transferring him away again? Calling him back and forth will make his life difficult!"

Cai Jing said unhappily: "Do you really think that the court belongs to the Cai family? Ordinary governors, it is natural to move back and forth. Then Zhu's father and son are protected by officials, how can they be transferred whenever they want?"

Cai You said, "You can ask the officials to mobilize them in person."

"Where are you going to be transferred?" Cai Jing asked back, "Hangzhou or Luoyang? When he arrives in a prosperous state capital, his harm will be even greater. It's better to pin him in Jinzhou and let him make trouble in poor places. Zhu Guoxiang has already returned to his hometown to visit his relatives, Zhu Ming It’s far away in Jinzhou, so it’s best for them not to return to Tokyo forever, and don’t even mention it in front of the officials. The longer these two stay away from Tokyo, the weaker the family will be, and maybe the officials will forget about them one day.”

"What my father said is very true." Cai You thinks it makes sense.

Cai Jing warned: "Remember, if you can intercept the news about Zhu's father and son, stop them all. Don't let the officials hear their names again. The secret performance of the father and son... also try to stop it!"

Cai You said: "I'm afraid the secret memorial can't be stopped. Xue Daoguang has a very close relationship with the father and son. When he entered the palace, he could hand over the secret memorial to the officials."

"If you can stop it, forget it if you can't," Cai Jing said, "Don't just stare at the Zhu family and his son, Zheng Juzhong and Wang Fu are the serious confidantes. When you play with the officials, you must guide the officials to hate Wang Fu."

Cai You cried bitterly: "Wang Fu doesn't want to be skinny, he always pretends to be a woman and a clown to please the officials. He and Li Bangyan sang together, but they are crowding out children."

Wearing presbyopic glasses, Cai Jing leaned close to check what he had just written, without raising his head, he said: "Then add more flowers and stones, the more exotic the better, the officials like new and exotic things. There is a severe drought this spring, pay attention to grain, don't let them There is a shortage of food in Tokyo.”

"Yes!" Cai You agreed.

"Go." Cai Jing said.

Cai You bowed and exited the study, seeing his younger brother leaning his head towards him and whispering something beside his father, his mood suddenly became even more unhappy.

He vented all his anger on Li Daochong, and wrote a letter of cursing, complaining that Li Daochong was useless.He also ordered Li Dao to rush to Ansheng, stay in Jinzhou well, and don't want to conflict with Zhu Ming again.

As Cai Jing said, it would be best to pin Ju Ming in Jinzhou, and it would be even better if he would toss about in the poor countryside and not move for a few years.

(End of this chapter)