I studied in modern times

Chapter 702: Setting the Rules (1)

When Su Song appeared at the inner east gate, Zeng Zhao was ecstatic.

Su Song glanced at Zeng Zhao and sighed in his heart: "Zi Kai is finally a reckless man!"

The affairs of the court are too complicated!
Zeng Zhao is too young and lacks experience - he is only about forty years old this year!

He had previously served as an official in the Imperial College and the Secretariat for a long time.

It is far better to be idealistic than to be practical, and with his two elder brothers protecting him, he has no idea how sinister human nature is.

With a sigh of relief, Su Song, under the guidance of Guo Zhongxiao, came to the small hall under the inner east gate that was built specially for the ministers to enter the palace.

Guo Zhongxiao quickly asked someone to bring him a chair.

"Minister, please sit down and wait..." Guo Zhongxiao said softly, "I believe the emperor will issue an order soon."

"Hmm!" Su Song sat down and placed the ivory court sceptre to his right hand.

Guo Zhongxiao served tea and took the opportunity to whisper: "Provincial Minister, the Spring Festival officials came out of the Qingshou Palace..."

"Yeah!" Su Song nodded.

He was of course familiar with Zeng Xiaokuan.

Speaking of which, he and Zeng Xiaokuan's father Zeng Gongliang had a deep friendship.

Because his ancestral home is in Fujian and he was born in Fujian.

Later, because of his father's official career, he moved to Runzhou.

Naturally, he was pulled into the small circle of Zhang Dexiang and Zeng Gongliang that year.

Zeng Gongliang and Zeng Yizhan are brothers from the same clan.

He was also a fellow townsman with the Zeng family of Nanfeng, especially Zeng Gong, with whom he had a close friendship.

Zeng Gong and Wang Anshi were close friends. When Wang Anshi's father Wang Yi was about to be buried, Zeng Gong was asked to write the epitaph.

At the same time, Zeng Gong was promoted and appointed by Zeng Gongliang in the court.

Therefore, he, Zeng Gong, Zeng Gongliang, and Wang Anshi were all connected together and on the same line back then.

Therefore, in the early years of Xining, Su Song was promoted to the court and held a series of important positions.

Including the fact that Guo Zhongxiao is currently concurrently serving in the Zhitongjiansi position, which was also held by him in the past.

However, at that time, the Tongjiansi was still called Tongjianyintaisi.

In the third year of Xining, he was recommended by Wang Anshi as the acting head of the imperial examination that year.

This is a very critical position!

The imperial examination is held every three years.

The imperial examination in the third year of Xining was also the Dragon Flying List of the previous emperor. Throughout the dynasties, the careers of Jinshi on the Dragon Flying List were smoother than those of Jinshi in other subjects.

And that was a critical moment for the new law.

Naturally, the selection and employment of personnel in that department is very critical.

Now, among the officials kneeling at the Inner East Gate to apologize, there was Shangguan Jun, the runner-up on the Longfei List that year.

When Su Song read his articles, he was amazed.

But... I am not as good as Ye Zuqia in seeing the direction of the wind.

So, the top spot that was in his hands was gone.

However, the most powerful person on the Longfei List that year was not the top three in the imperial examination, but Cai Jing and Cai Yuanchang who ranked fifth.

Now, he is the acting prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture as a minister of the imperial court and a scholar of the Longtu Pavilion.

Then, there is Cai Bian, the younger brother of Cai Jing, who is on the same list as him. He is now a court official and the deputy envoy of the six routes of Jianghuai.

Brothers are all waiting to be appointed!

Moreover, they are all trusted and valued by the young master!
In the future, these brothers will have the opportunity to be appointed to two positions in government, or even become prime minister!

And the fact that Su Song was able to serve as the acting director of the imperial examination at that time shows that he was already a member of Wang Anshi's new law team.

At least, that's what Wang Anshi thought!

Thinking of this, Su Song sighed twice: "The past is like smoke..."

He looked at Zeng Zhao's figure crawling under the inner east gate and thought of himself back then.

Back then, he also lay down at the inner east gate like Zeng Zhao.

However, instead of apologizing or confessing his guilt, he firmly rejected the imperial edict.

That year was the fourth year of Xining.

The incident of Li Ding, Li Zisheng, hiding his mother's death and refusing to accept it broke out.

At that time, Su Song was the Director of Imperial Edicts, responsible for drafting poems for the previous emperor.

Just like Zeng Zhao today!

The appointment of Li Ding was promoted by Wang Anshi.

However, as the Chief Editor of Imperial Edicts, Su Song could not accept Li Ding's behavior, so he firmly refused to write a poem for Li Ding.

Because of this incident, Wang Anshi thought that he was ungrateful and was challenging his authority as prime minister, so he was forced to leave the province.

That's what a stubborn husband is like.

This is another reason why Su Song went to the palace to plead for mercy.

Although, he back then and Zeng Zhao now are different.

Zeng Zhao's claim was based on hearsay, but he had solid evidence.

But in the end, he had some empathy.

Thinking about the past, Su Song slowly picked up the teacup and took a sip.

"Zeng Zikai's original intention was not bad... he was just deceived." He said softly, trying to convince himself.

As he was waiting, a familiar figure suddenly appeared on the palace corridor outside the inner east gate.

When Su Song saw the person coming, he quickly put down his teacup and stood up to greet him.

"Envoy Zhang..." He went out to greet him from afar, calling out Zhang Fangping's assignment affectionately - Editor of Yuanyou Dictionary. This was the correct name for Zhang Fangping.

Use job titles in the workplace!

Even if the other party has retired!

But we still can't be careless.

Because a wrong name may offend people.

Su Song bowed and said, "Why did you enter the palace?"

"Zirong!" Zhang Fangping, leaning on the cane made of Yazhou Huanghuali wood given by the emperor, slowly came to Su Song. Beside him, Su Zhe followed.

Zhang Fangping bowed slightly to Su Song in return and sighed, "I have no choice but to come here..."

"Ziyou did a bad job this time."

"In order to prevent him from tarnishing the reputation of the Empress, I have no choice but to enter the palace and apologize before the two Empresses and the Emperor!"

Su Song listened and nodded, saying, "I was just about to go to the Imperial Court to apologize for Zeng Zi... and then to the two Empresses in the Palace to apologize..."

"Why not go together?" Su Song asked.

It just so happened that he had been planning to go before the emperor to speak for Su Che and smooth things over.

Now, with Zhang Fangping accompanying us, things should be much easier with Zhang Fangping's face.

Zhang Fangping nodded: "Very good, it just so happens that I haven't reminisced with Zirong for a long time."

Su Che hung his head and saw from the corner of his eye his colleagues prostrating themselves at the Inner East Gate.

Zeng Zikai, Shangguan Yanheng, Xianyu Zijun...

However, Su Che had actually anticipated this - he had already experienced something similar during the Wudai Poetry Case.

Almost overnight, all those who were on good terms with him cut off all ties with him.

He even burned the poems and calligraphy that he had asked for from him in the past...

That's how officialdom works.

In order to reduce one year's probation, some people dare to kill and burn people!
What’s more, it concerns one’s career!
Although the current emperor is kind, no one who offends him will have a good ending!
Li Ding, Liu Zhi, Wang Yansou, Sun Sheng...

The demotion of these people was not simply a demotion.

The young master would pull them out every now and then and repeatedly tell the people around him how bad these demoted people were.

It's like whipping a corpse repeatedly!
With the emperor's attitude, it would be harder than ascending to heaven for these demoted people to be reinstated!

Therefore, everyone in the court now has a consensus - once someone is demoted by the current emperor himself, it is almost impossible for them to go on vacation in the countryside like they did in the past and return to the court as normal after a few years!

Neither the Ministry of Personnel nor the Capital City would nor dare to appoint a person who had been demoted by the emperor.

Therefore, these people can only wander around in remote military states for the rest of their lives.

But for the civil officials, this is more painful than killing them!
Therefore, Su Che could understand the choices made by his friends Zeng Zhao, Xian Yu Qun, and Shangguan Jun.

But even though he understood it, he still felt upset. As he listened to what Zhang Fangping and Su Song said, he hung his head and his ears turned red.

I feel a mixture of emotions inside, which are hard to describe.

He could only bow and say, "My nephew is sorry to trouble you two uncles."

Su Song looked at Su Zhe and sighed, "Ziyou..."

"When serving in the court, it is better to be careful!"

"This is a lesson learned!"

"Yes!" Su Che replied with his head down.

This morning, as soon as he got up, he found out that Xianyu Qun and others didn't even say hello to him, but came to the Inner East Gate to apologize and beg to see the two palaces and the emperor.

He was completely confused and had no idea what to do.
Come or not?

He couldn't make up his mind.

It was Zhang Fangping's son Zhang Shu who came to his house and took him out.

While the three were talking, Feng Jing from Funing Palace had already brought his men to the inner east gate.

When Feng Jing saw Zhang Fangping, he was stunned for a moment.

Then he hurried forward to greet him: "Old Sir (he was an eunuch, and the eunuchs called all ministers who had served as prime ministers Sir)... Why are you here? Why didn't you send someone to inform everyone in advance?"

Zhang Fangping said: "Alas... it was Su Che, the secretary of the Central Secretariat. He believed what others said and accidentally offended the Empress Dowager..."

"I was entrusted by my servant Su Zhe's father to come to the palace and take Su Zhe to apologize to the Empress Dowager Cixi..."

"I beg the Empress Dowager to show her kindness and graciousness, and consider that Su Che was only loyal to his duties, and grant him some leniency..."

As an old minister, Zhang Fangping had already grasped the pulse of Qingshou Palace and certainly knew how to speak in order to make Qingshou Palace give in.

Feng Jing listened and nodded, then said to Su Song: "Mr. Su, please follow me..."

Zhang Fangping stopped him and said, "Please report back to the emperor and tell him that I, this old minister, would like to see His Majesty together with the Minister of the Central Secretariat Su Song..."

Feng Jing hesitated for a moment, thinking about Zhang Fangping's identity, and nodded slightly: "Old husband, please wait here for a moment, I will pass the message right away!"

……

"Zhang Fangping has also entered the palace?"

"And he ran into Su Song?!"

After listening to Feng Jing's report, Zhao Xu rubbed his hands subconsciously.

Then he said to Feng Jing, "Feng Jing, go and invite Elder Zhang and Elder Su to the side hall of the Funing Palace."

After thinking for a while, he asked, "Is Zeng Zhao still kneeling at the inner east gate?"

"Yes……"

"Bring them together!" Zhao Xu ordered.

As the story of Journey to the West goes, a monster with a backer and a backer can swallow up the people of a country and turn the foot of the sacred mountain into a sea of ​​blood and hell.

It’s nothing!

He could just pat his butt and go back to Lingshan to be his Bodhisattva mount, the Buddha boy.

On the contrary, even if you have always been polite and have never killed any living being, even when you buy cattle and sheep from ordinary people, you pay for them and never cheat anyone.

However, he took just one wrong step and stole the weapon of the monk with the monkey face and thunder god mouth.

It is impossible to escape the golden cudgel and end up with your soul torn to pieces!

This is a myth and also a reality!
Even in modern society, the gap between people can be so great that it seems as if they are two species.

What’s more, it was the Song Dynasty a thousand years ago?
The Song Dynasty was a feudal dynasty that openly implemented the system of imperial favors!
Not to mention the son of the prime minister.

Even if a child in the family of a waiting official is just born and still in swaddling clothes, he may have already been designated as an official!
His starting point is a high position that countless ordinary people cannot reach in their entire lives!

So, this time we set the rules.

It is impossible to use Zeng Zhao and Su Che to establish oneself.

We can only use those guys who have no backing and no background to kill the chickens and scare the monkeys.

Is this very dark?
But that’s politics!
According to the explanation in modern textbooks, politics is the superstructure based on economy, which is the sum of various social activities and social relations centered on state power.

(End of this chapter)