I studied in modern times

Chapter 708: Little Lu Bu of the Song Dynasty

After only saying hello to Concubine Xing who was holding Zhao Ji, Zhao Xu came before the two palaces, bowed and greeted them, and then greeted Zhu, calling her "sister".

Empress Dowager Xiang looked at Zhao Xu with a smile on her face.

Especially Zhao Xu called her "Mother" and Zhu "Sister", which made her particularly happy.

Empress Dowager Xiang took Zhao Xu's hand and sat down, smiling, "After today, Sixth Brother will be one year older. In another two or three years, Mother will be able to enjoy happiness together with Grandmother!"

Although, Zhao Xu's actual age was exaggerated by two years.

However, since he ascended the throne, everyone inside and outside the palace has reached a consensus - the current emperor was born on December 1075, the eighth year of Xining ().

Everyone says this!

Because Zhao Xu's life before he ascended the throne was always shrouded in mystery.

Therefore, the history of time quietly started.

Now, even Zhao Xu almost thought that he was born in the eighth year of Xining. After the New Year, he would be thirteen years old.

But in the rural areas of the Song Dynasty today, many thirteen-year-old children are already living independently and even starting a family.

Coupled with his increasingly mature skills.

Therefore, people from the court to the public, at least the prime ministers of the capital and the generals of the three yamen, no longer regarded him as a child.

Rather, he is a monarch who is about to come of age and will soon take power.

Empress Dowager Xiang's words immediately caused all the concubines in the palace to start laughing.

Concubine Wu Xianfei and Concubine Lin Defei, who had received favors from Zhao Xu, immediately bowed to the two palaces and said many flattering words about Zhao Xu.

It also says, "May the Merciful Saint bless and support the emperor, and this will be recorded in history in the future," and it also says, "The Grand Empress Dowager is the best mother in the world, and the Empress Dowager is the best saint in the world."

The two palaces were so amused that they couldn't stop smiling.

As for Concubine Xing who was holding Zhao Ji's hand in the corner of the crowd, no one paid any attention to her.

No one even glanced at it.

That's how it is in the palace.

They have always been about putting down the weak and praising the strong, and currying favor with the powerful.

Seeing this, Concubine Xing could only sigh helplessly and couldn't help but clench the young and ignorant Zhao Ji's hand.

The only good news for her was that Shiyilang had always been in good health.

As long as she can raise Shiyilang to adulthood, she will have someone to rely on in the future.

Little did they know that Zhao Xu was quietly observing the mother and son out of the corner of his eye.

……

After the commotion, the concubines, along with the princes and princesses, bid farewell and left.

They had to return to their respective chambers, give orders, clean the inside and outside, and burn the garbage.

This is a tradition on New Year’s Eve, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new.

The inner bedroom soon became quiet.

Zhao Xu sat beside the two palaces and asked softly, "Grandmother and Queen Mother asked me to come here, is it because of something in the outer court?"

The Empress Dowager nodded and said, "That's right!"

"Your Majesty, the censors in the outer court are so sure of what they say..."

"Xianyu Qun and Shangguan Jun are both hypocrites with beastly hearts!" When she said this, she couldn't help but grit her teeth.

This incident almost made her lose all her face and embarrassed in front of the whole world!

You know, this incident happened before the New Year.

The envoys from the four barbarians were either already in Bian Jing or on their way.

If these villains really succeeded, then wouldn't she, the Queen Mother of the Song Dynasty, the female Yao and Shun, be embarrassed in front of the whole world and envoys from various countries?

That is why, after thinking about it over the past two days, the Empress Dowager became angrier and angrier she became, and the angrier she became, the more she thought about it, forming a closed loop.

I just wish I could strip all the people involved, and then banish them all to Lingnan to eat lychees or even go fishing in Yazhou!

You can't say that the fishermen in Yazhou can fish, but the scholars and officials today can't, right?

With this mentality, she continued: "As for the two officials Zeng and Su, they blatantly made private transactions and actually wanted to use the country's public tools for their own use!"

"Su Sheren is even more suspected of being disloyal to the Song Dynasty!"

"Now, public opinion is boiling, and the court and the public are shaken. Today, many memorials from King Injo's old ministers were submitted to Dengwen Drum Court, all of which said, 'The Secretary of the Central Secretariat Su Che has slandered the great achievements of our ancestors and is a disloyal person who must not be used.' And so on..."

Zhao Xu listened, and after a moment's silence, he said, "Grandmother, Su Che is the imperial lecturer beside Sun Chen."

"Sun Chen still knows what kind of person he is."

"I will never have the intention of disloyalty."

"As for the mistakes he made in the Imperial Examination?" Zhao Xu said, "It was not intentional. It was just an unintentional mistake."

"Besides..." Zhao Xu smiled and said, "Today is New Year's Eve and the family should be happy and harmonious. It's better not to mention these troubles."

Empress Dowager Xiang said immediately: "Yes, Your Majesty, today is New Year's Eve, a festival to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new. We should be happy. Please don't mention these troubles anymore!"

"To avoid bad luck..."

The three words "unlucky" directly hit the Empress Dowager's vital point.

It wasn't just that she was superstitious.

Moreover, she remembered that the envoys from Liao, Western Xia, Jiaozhi, Tubo, Qiuci and other countries who came to celebrate the New Year had already arrived in Bianjing City.

If we deal with these people in a high-profile manner, it might cause surprise among our friendly countries.

Especially Xixia!
We just had a fight with the Western thieves this year.

Although the Song Dynasty won, the amount of money spent, according to reports from the Ministry of Revenue alone, was at least five million strings of cash.

This does not include the two million strings of cash allocated from the Fengzhuang Ku for emergency use, as well as military rewards for various routes in Shaanxi.

What if, due to the disturbance in the Song Dynasty court, the Western bandits think that the Song Dynasty is unstable and that they can take advantage of the situation and invade again next year? What should we do?
After reading this, she said, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is right!"

"Let's wait until after the New Year's Day celebrations before dealing with it again!"

However, she was holding back on anger and had to vent it out.

So she said to Zhao Xu, "Didn't the emperor say a few days ago that he would order officials to conduct a strict investigation into the use of government funds?"

"Yes……"

"Have you chosen someone?" she asked.

Zhao Xu replied, "Sun Chen has already appointed Cai Jing, the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, and Jia Zhongmin, the director of the Street Office, to be in charge of this matter."

The Empress Dowager thought for a moment and said, "Then I will send another person to serve together with Cai Jingquan..."

"Sun Chen respectfully obeys the great mother's orders!" Zhao Xu would certainly not object.

In fact, this is what he hoped to see.

The Empress Dowager said: "I have heard that the former Minister Shu Tan was upright and impartial. When he was in the court, he made me tremble with fear..."

"I wonder where this middle commander is now?"

When Zhao Xu heard this, he took a deep breath!
Shu Tan was one of the initiators of the Wudai Poetry Case.

Back then, among the people in the Censorate who used a Yangsui (magnifying glass) to check Su Shi's poems and essays word by word, was this person.

He can be regarded as the modern-day Lai Junchen!

At the same time, this is also a speculator.

As long as there is an opportunity, I will try my best to climb up at all costs.

Therefore, after the Wudai Poetry Case, he rose rapidly, and within a few years, he was promoted to the position of Chief Censor and Director of the Baowen Pavilion.

At its peak, it was said that "it was so powerful that everyone looked at it with awe."

From the prime minister to the petty official, no one was not afraid of him.

But, as the saying goes, if you walk too much on the night road, you will always encounter ghosts.

As a result, in the sixth year of Yuanfeng, he suffered a huge setback.

Because of a small matter, Zhao Xu's father used it as an excuse to dismiss him from his post. And the punishment was very severe: he was dismissed from his post, suspended from office, and sent to live in his hometown.

And he was ordered to return home immediately and not to stay!

So Shu Tan had to hurriedly board a boat and leave Beijing in a panic.

At that time, there happened to be a monk named Ciben who was ordered to go to the capital to preach.

It just so happened that the day Shu Tan left Beijing was the day Ci Ben entered Beijing.

So, the idle men in Bianjing joked: The Zhongcheng chartered a ship to leave the capital, and the monk rode a horse to the palace!

You know what, this rhymes!

This shows that the literary skills of the masses in the Song Dynasty were also quite profound!
but……

Zhao Xu pursed his lips and said in surprise: "There is such a wise minister. Sun Chen will certainly be of great use!"

The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction, and then said: "Since even the Emperor has agreed, let the Academy of Scholars draft the edict after the year!"

"Shu Tan, the former Chief Censor, was reinstated and made a court attendant as the Left Censor, and he was to supervise the investigation of the case of the public envoy money together with Cai Jing and others."

Zhao Xu hurriedly said, "Sun Chen will obey the order of the great mother!"

But where the Empress Dowager wasn't noticing, Zhao Xu's little hands had already subconsciously begun to rub.

Shu Tan was a well-known speculator in the New Party.

He can be called the modern-day Little Lu Bu!
When he was in the government, he had relied on countless people in order to climb up the career ladder. However, as soon as he climbed to a high position and the people around him lost their usefulness, he would decisively stab them in the back.

As a result, not only the people of the old party disliked him, but the people of the new party also hated him.

Therefore, when Zhao Xu ascended the throne last year and the court showed favoritism to guilty officials and issued a general amnesty, no one pleaded for him, let alone put his name on the list.

How did the Empress Dowager notice this person?
Zhao Xu wasn't quite sure.

But it was definitely not her idea.

Someone must have served as her advisor and introduced her to this little Lu Bu, who is now lying down and teaching in his hometown.

Who is it?
She is qualified to enter and leave the palace, advise the Empress Dowager, know the stories of ministers in the court, and is not afraid of breaking taboos.

It can only be a lady of destiny.

At the same time, this person must have sufficient say in front of the Empress Dowager.

As a result, the list was quickly narrowed down to less than five people.

Among these five people, the women from the prime minister's family must be excluded first.

So, only a lonely name was left.

Zeng Bu’s wife Wei Wan!

This is the butterfly effect, the change it brings.

At the beginning, before he ascended the throne, in order to show his intelligence and love of learning, he asked the two palaces for advice on the Spring and Autumn Annals.

The two palaces naturally have to seek external help.

So, the Empress Dowager found Zeng Bu, and Empress Dowager Xiang found Deng Runfu.

Since then, Zeng Bu has become a favorite of the Empress Dowager.

Zeng Bu was appointed as the governor of Yangzhou, and his standards followed the standard standards for a prime minister--a scholar of the Duanming Palace and a senior official of the Zhengyi Palace, and he was appointed as the governor of Yangzhou.

Although Zeng Buren had left, his influence remained in the court.

His wife Wei Wan often went into the palace to chat with the Empress Dowager.

As far as Zhao Xu knew, the Empress Dowager liked the minister's wife very much and once publicly praised her: "She was virtuous and good at managing the household, and there was no other noble woman in the country better than Zeng Duanming's wife."

Zeng Bu was also on good terms with the Gao family in Yangzhou.

During the Xinglong Festival, didn’t Zhao Xu receive a report from Chen Mu of Mingzhou that the Champa delegation was burned to death in an inn between Liangzhe Road and Hangzhou?

The person who did this was Gao Zunlu, the military commander of the Hangzhou Xuanyi Army.

But the Xuanyi Army is not only in Hangzhou, but also in Yangzhou.

The military commander of the Xuanyi Army in Yangzhou was another member of the Gao family - Gao Zunli.

It is said that Gao Zunli and Zeng Bu are now only one step away from becoming sworn brothers.

Zeng Bu’s relationship is not that serious.

He had a daughter who married Xiang Zongdan, the transport commissioner of Jingxi Road and the cousin of Empress Dowager Xiang.

The last time the court nominated someone to be the prime minister, Xiang Zongdan returned to Beijing and lobbied Xiang's family.

He wanted Madam Xiang to plead for Zeng Bu.

But the lady refused - she was very sober-minded and would never get involved in such a thing.

But it is certain that Zeng Bu has connections with both the Gao family and the Xiang family.

Zeng Bu and Zeng Zixuan are indeed talented people!

As far as Zhao Xu knew, Zeng Zhao had caused a big disaster this time, and Wei Wan, as his sister-in-law, had entered the palace many times to put out the fire.

Now it seems that Zeng Zhao’s fire has not been extinguished.

But Zeng Bu's favor in front of the Empress Dowager did not seem to disappear.

This made Zhao Xu feel somewhat regretful.

But this was done by Zhao Xu himself.

If he had not sent Gao Zunhui to Guangxi to get sugarcane, why would the Gao and Xiang families be so active in going south?
……

After leaving Qingshou Palace, Zhao Xu, accompanied by the imperial dragon guards, walked along the palace corridors in the afternoon.

Zhao Xu murmured softly: "Shu Tan..."

"Ha ha……"

But it wasn't just the Empress Dowager who wanted to employ Shu Tan, Zhao Xu also wanted to!

why?
This is because the place where Shu Tan was placed under house arrest was his hometown, which is now one of Zhao Xu's most important sea trade ports - Mingzhou.

This is Chen Mu’s territory.

According to Chen Mu's report, he went to see Shu Tan after taking office.

This former Zhongsi has been teaching in his hometown since he retired.

He is very interesting, as he is a Jinshi and a Jinshi who has served as a high-ranking official.

He accepted hundreds of students in the private school in his hometown, but did not ask for tuition from the students. He only accepted a gift, which was bacon.

So Chen Mu reported that Shu Tan's family had delicious cured meat.

What’s even more interesting is that Shu Tan collected the bacon but seldom ate it himself. Instead, he used it as a snack for his students.

This is in line with the teaching method of his mentor, Mr. Lou Yu of Xihu.

In Mingzhou, the school founded by Lou Yu has always been a supporter of new learning.

All I can say is that people are complicated.

The Little Lu Bu in the court and the Lai Junchen of our time are actually a kind-hearted elder and a teacher who works diligently to cultivate talents in his hometown.

Moreover, according to Chen Mu's report, Shu Tan accepted many poor students.

The tuition fees sent by other families were basically used to provide these students with extra food.

In addition to these, what interested Zhao Xu the most was that Shu Tan actively cooperated with Chen Mu's work in Mingzhou, mobilized his influence in the Donglou School (a private library established by Lou Yu, named Donglou), actively responded, and personally encouraged several wealthy parents of students to invest in Mingzhou's shipbuilding industry.

When Zhao Xu learned about this, he thought about reinstating him.

But... after just thinking about it for a moment, he gave up.

Because Shu Tan had too many enemies.

Therefore, his situation was exactly the same as Lu Bu's at the White Gate Tower - everyone hated him and wanted to kill him.

The cost of a hasty recovery would be too high.

But if the Empress Dowager is reinstated, then there will be no problem!
I am a filial son, and it is reasonable and proper for me to respect the benevolent wishes of my Grand Mother.

(End of this chapter)