I studied in modern times

Chapter 720 Ripples
Metropolitan Hall.

Lu Gongzhu knew almost immediately that Han Jiang had recommended Lu Huiqing in his letter of thanks.

His face froze instantly, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words that were not meant to be said: "Zuo Xianggong is loyal to the country and promotes talents for the country. He is truly a role model for our generation!"

But in his heart, he just wanted to curse Han Jiang's ancestors for eighteen generations one by one!
When Lu Jifu was in the court, he was a notorious troublemaker!
Every day I am either fighting with others or on the way to find someone to fight with!

Not only the gentlemen of the old party were defeated by him.

Even the villains of the New Party were forced into a state of panic.

Don’t think that when he was in the court, he only offended Han Jiang.

Zeng Bu, Zhang Dun, Cai Que, Wang Gui...

Even Wang Anshi’s beloved son Wang Rong…

He offended everyone he could.

If he returned to the court, Lu Gongzhu would feel his scalp tingling and even a sense of fatigue in his heart.

But he was the right prime minister and would soon take over as the left prime minister and become the prime minister of the Song Dynasty.

The prime minister must be tolerant and generous, and must also show an attitude of accepting different opinions.

Otherwise, he might be accused of being the modern-day Li Linfu.

Lu Gongzhu needs to be magnanimous.

His student Li Chang was different.

When Li Chang heard that Han Jiang recommended Lu Huiqing in his letter of thanks after retirement, he was immediately a little disappointed.

Moreover, his reaction was so intense that he could be said to be the strongest among all the people in the capital.

Because, unlike others, he, Li Chang, Li Gongze, had really suffered at the hands of Lu Huiqing, a man from Fujian.

Speaking of which, Li Chang and Lu Huiqing were good friends back then. During the Zhiping period, Li Chang, Lu Huiqing, Shen Kuo and the current Minister of Justice Wang Cun all studied in the Imperial Library.

They quickly became familiar with each other, and in their spare time, they often got together to write poems and essays and communicate with each other.

At that time, Lu Huiqing had already begun to show his sharp and unyielding character.

During the Xining period, Lu Huiqing was highly valued by Wang Anshi and he stopped pretending completely.

At that time, Li Chang was recommended by Wang Anshi to serve as a censor.

However, Li Chang strongly opposed the Qingmiao Law, believing that this law would definitely do bad things and harm the people.

So Lu Huiqing came to threaten him: "How dare you betray Jiefu? I can make you inferior to others for the rest of your life!"

If you dare to let down Mr. Jiefu, I will suppress you for the rest of your life and make you a lowly official for the rest of your life!

Li Changzi refused to accept this threat and was determined not to compromise. At the court meeting a few days later, he firmly opposed the implementation of the Qingmiao Law.

Talking about this matter will definitely harm the people.

However, the late emperor was resolute, so Li Chang could only request to be transferred to another county.

As expected, afterwards, Lu Huiqing instigated many people to suppress Li Chang.

But Li Chang resolutely fought against these people (Note 1).

Now, when Han Jiang retired, he recommended Lu Huiqing.

Once Lu Huiqing returns to the court...

Given his character, Li Chang knew that he would definitely fulfill his promise.

That Fujian guy is bound to make things difficult for him.

Thinking of this, Li Chang clenched his fists: "I can't just do something and ignore it!"

"We must submit a letter and explain this matter to the two palaces and His Majesty!"

So he began to think about how to write a memorial to discuss this matter.

But after thinking it over, he still hadn't made up his mind until today.

Mainly, he needs to choose his words carefully, and he must be as tactful as possible while being able to convince the two palaces and the emperor.

no way!
Lu Huiqing was recommended by Han Jiang.

And Han Jiang has now officially retired.

If he opposed this matter in strong words, it would easily give people the illusion that he did not respect Han Jiang, the retired former prime minister.

What's more, he also needs to consider the young master's attitude.

The case of Zhang Zhijian clearly revealed the young master's protective attitude towards Lu Huiqing.

So Li Chang hadn't finished thinking about his speech until he got home.

Coincidentally, at this time his nephew Huang Tingjian came to his house to visit him.

"Lu Zhi has arrived just in time..." Li Chang was overjoyed when he saw his nephew: "I was just about to send someone to look for Lu Zhi!"

Huang Tingjian reacted immediately and asked, "Is it about Duke Kangguo recommending Lü Jinglie?"

"Hmm!" Li Chang said, "That Fujian guy is a vindictive villain. When he was in the court, he persecuted countless gentlemen and wise men."

"Now that the Left Prime Minister has been nominated... I am afraid that if he returns to the court, there will never be peace in the capital!"

That is for sure!
Not to mention being a gentleman and an upright person of the old party.

Even among the ministers of the New Party, who would want to see Lu Huiqing return to Beijing?
During the Yuanfeng era, in order to prevent Lu Huiqing from returning to the court, ministers from the New Party and the Old Party even joined forces tacitly.

Huang Tingjian thought for a moment and said, "Uncle, I think the only way to stop Lü Jinglüe from returning to the court is to praise him for his official duties and his contributions in front of the emperor..."

"Hmm?" Li Chang frowned.

Huang Tingjian explained: "My uncle should also know that the emperor of the current dynasty seems to have a good impression of Lü Jinglüe."

"Since the rise of the Dragon King, all the ministers have supported the emperor. Since the emperor is intelligent, he can directly remove the ministers."

"So if the emperor has made up his mind, even if the government and the country are ruined, Lu Jinglue can still return to the court."

Li Chang nodded.

During the Xinglong Festival last year, all the ministers collectively submitted a petition to support the emperor.

Not only did the two palaces agree, but from then on, the prime minister could receive imperial orders in the Funing Palace.

It also gave the emperor the power to directly dismiss ministers without the consent of the two palaces.

The emperor's appointment of prime ministers is his authority, and no one has the right to interfere or make comments.

It is impossible for anyone to have the courage to oppose or question.

Unless he wants to cut himself off from the world and become a traitor without a king or father.

Therefore, as long as the emperor is willing, as long as a piece of jute paper falls from the palace, Lu Huiqing will return to Beijing immediately!

"So..." Huang Tingjian said, "Sir, I think if we want to stop him from returning to the court, we can only do it in a roundabout way..."

Li Chang's eyes lit up.

Of course he understood what Huang Tingjian meant.

Over the years, Lu Huiqing has been serving as an official in Fuyan Road and Hedong, presiding over the strategy against the western bandits.

Over the years, almost all of his achievements and political accomplishments came from the military.

In terms of civil affairs, there is not much to be said for, and there are even many excuses for people to attack.

Therefore, Huang Tingjian's intention was actually to shape Lü Huiqing's image in the palace into that of a civil official and a famous general.

As long as the emperor and the two palaces in the palace have formed the idea that "Lü Huiqing is indeed very capable, but his ability is mainly concentrated in the military field."

Then, the emperor and the two palaces might be inclined to continue employing him to guard the border.

We can't stay in Hedong anymore.

But he can be assigned to various routes in Shaanxi and Xihe.

Just ...

"If this is the case, the people of the world are fortunate, but what is the fault of the prefectures and counties?" Li Chang sighed.

Huang Tingjian bowed and said, "Sir, I heard that Fan Wenzheng presided over the Qingli New Deal. I hope that Fan Wenzheng will show mercy to those who have something to say..."

"Gong Zheng said: Why not cry all the way instead of one family crying?"

"The same is true for today's incident!"

"Crying all the way, how can it be better than crying all over the world?!"

Li Chang nodded and said, "Good!"

"What Lu Zhi said is very true! Crying all the way is worse than crying all over the world!"

"It's just that the people along the way suffered so much... They were so innocent!"

As a good friend of Lu Huiqing in the past, Li Chang was very familiar with Lu Huiqing's character.

In Lu Huiqing's view, as long as the result is good, the process doesn't matter at all.

Therefore, in the Hedong Road where he was in charge, he had been disrupting farmers and eliminating the western bandits over the years.

Not only did it empty the treasuries of the prefectures and counties along the Hedong route, it also made the people extremely exhausted.

It was also necessary to have Hebei and Jingdong Road send large amounts of money, silk, armor and weapons to maintain the business in Hedong.

Although Lu Huiqing's aggressive military policy greatly increased the combat effectiveness of the government troops along the Hedong route.

At least we can rely on the two forward bases of Wubao and Jialushai to continuously harass the left wing of the western bandits, making their main force on the left wing immobile and unable to support Shaanxi and Xihe.

Last year, when the Western bandits invaded in large numbers, the Hedong government troops were the only ones in the Song Dynasty to take the initiative to attack and penetrate deep into the heart of the Western bandits, forcing their entire left wing, and even the troops of the Black Mountain Wei Fu Military Supervision Office, to remain on the northern foot of Hengshan Mountain.

However, this could not change the extremely difficult situation of the people of Hedong under Lu Huiqing's administration.

Even in wealthy states like Lianjin and Jiang, after a drought, people were left homeless and in a tragic situation.

It got to the point that even Lu Huiqing could no longer cover up the truth and had to ask the court for help, requesting tax reductions and an increase in the amount of surplus money.

……

Wenfu.

With the help of Wen Yiqing, Wen Yanbo slowly sat down on the couch.

"In this world..." Wen Yanbo leaned on the soft couch and sighed to Feng Jing who came to visit: "You and I are one year older!"

Feng Jing cupped his hands and said, "Yes..."

"Master, you and I are one year older now."

"I heard that the Grand Tutor's son-in-law Bao Shou will leave in the next few days to serve as an official in Xihe?" Feng Jing asked. "Yes!" Wen Yanbo bowed in the direction of the imperial city: "I have been blessed by the emperor and the two palaces, and have been appointed as Xuande Lang and Xizhou Tongpan. Now I have received the official certificate from the Ministry of Personnel and have decided to leave Beijing on February Yiyou (the second day of the first lunar month). "

Feng Jing nodded and said with emotion: "God's grace is so great!"

"If Lord Bao Xiaosu knew how deeply the emperor favored him, he would surely smile in his grave."

The fact that Bao Shou was granted the title of Xuan De Lang and was appointed as the Tong Pan of Xizhou did not cause any disturbance in the court, and did not even cause any ripples.

This is because Bao Shou’s qualifications have long met the requirements for being a prefect of a state!
He was Bao Zheng's only son. When he was five years old, he was appointed as an official by the grace of the Temple of Benevolence - he was appointed as the Taizhu of the Taichang Temple, which was a Beijing official!
In other words, when he was five years old, his qualifications for official position had already surpassed those of most newly-appointed Jinshi.

In the following years, he continued to explore.

After so many years of trials and tribulations, Bao Shou's qualifications had already reached the pinnacle of Beijing officials, the rank of Xuan De Lang.

The reason why the court officials were not changed was simply because he had never served in the government.

Of course, an official who had never served as an official and had never worked in the position of selecting people for a day would be appointed as the magistrate of a state as soon as he started his official career.

This is indeed the emperor’s great grace!
Otherwise, it would stand to reason that he should be first appointed to an unimportant and sinecure job to give him some training and experience to see his quality before deciding on the next official position. It would be impossible for him to be appointed as the magistrate of a state right away.

Wen Yanbo listened, his eyes narrowed with laughter: "It is indeed the emperor's grace. I have already told Bao Shou to be a good official after he takes office, not to disappoint the emperor's trust, and not to ruin the reputation of our ancestors."

But he could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

Bao Zheng—I used to hang out with him.

And Bao Shou is his son-in-law.

The current emperor respects Bao Zheng and uses Bao Shou. In his view, this is respecting him and praising him.

Most people in the market think so too.

After all, Bao Zheng is dead.

The emperor treated Bao Zheng's only son so well, praised Bao Zheng's contributions and commended his official performance.

Isn't this just finding different ways to praise and glorify Grand Tutor Wen Yanbo?
Feng Jing nodded, then asked softly, "Grandmaster, what do you think of Han Zihua's recommendation of Lu Jifu?"

The smile on Wen Yanbo's face stopped.

"How do you look at it?" He whispered, "Of course, look at it normally!"

"Isn't the Grand Master worried?" Feng Jing asked.

Lu Huiqing is a radical among the radicals in the New Party.

He even dares to use the hand method!
If he returns...

Feng Jing felt that there would definitely be no peace in the city of Bianjing.

"What are you worried about?" Wen Yanbo asked, "Does the world think that the emperor can't even suppress Lu Jifu?"

"How can it be!"

"Even people like you and me can be driven by His Majesty and are willing to be sent by him..."

"Even if Lu Jifu returns to the court, he will be just average!"

Wen Yanbo doesn't worry about these things!

Because, from his perspective, the man in the palace now has too many means and tactics.

No one knows how the young master learned these methods and techniques.

However, Wen Yanbo knew it very well.

Nowadays, the relatives and nobles in the court are basically well fed by His Majesty.

When there is money to be made, the relatives of the emperor and the nobles are easier to talk to than anyone else.

What's more, that person does more than just give money and benefits.

He can also kill chickens to scare monkeys.

Wang Shen and Guo Xianqing, two imperial consorts, one died and the other was taken in.

The family of Zhang Qi, Duke of Xu, was uprooted, and even the mansion granted by the Zhen Temple was taken back and converted into low-rent housing for officials.

But for veteran civil officials like him and Feng Jing.

That would be the right medicine for the disease.

Wen Yanbo loved fame, so he was given fame and carried in a sedan chair. As soon as he entered the court, he was respected as the Grand Tutor and appointed as the Minister of Military and National Affairs, ranking above the Prime Minister. It was also announced that the Grand Tutor would hold court once every seven days, and whenever he entered the court, the Prime Minister would be ordered to carry the sedan chair. A special decree allowed the Grand Tutor to bow once less before the emperor. After the Xinglong Festival last year, a special decree allowed the Grand Tutor to avoid kneeling before the emperor.

Wen Yanbo was unable to withstand this series of punches and immediately changed his attitude.

He no longer put on airs as a veteran of four dynasties, nor did he want to find fault. He was even willing to cooperate with Han Jiang and endorsed Han Jiang's adjustment and reform of the Labor Service Law and the Green Sprout Law.

Later, he chose his grandson Wen Xunniang to enter the palace and directly conferred her the title of Lady of Ganquan County.

It was almost like telling him explicitly that I intended to make the granddaughter of the Grand Master my queen.

How could Wen Yanbo bear this stimulation?

From then on, he completely lost the style of a Grand Tutor, and was truly summoned to court by the Emperor and commanded to do whatever he was told.

Feng Jing is also average.

He loves money and fame, and the emperor caters to his tastes.

Not only did he fulfill his wish, but he was also appointed as the editor of the Yuanyou Dictionary.

He also gave the green light to the business of Feng Jing's clansmen, allowing them to participate in trade with Liao.

Feng Jing nodded and said, "But, the court is still uneasy!"

"I'm afraid that Lu Jifu will come back and start a war!"

This is not just a concern for the gentlemen and elders of the old party, but also for the ministers of the new party.

Because Lu Huiqing has never been willing to live in peace.

Once he really returns to the court, there will be no peace inside or outside the court.

If things go wrong, he might even raise the banner of reform again!
Then it is truly the fault of all the people in the world!
Wen Yanbo laughed and said, "Just relax for now!"

"In my opinion, Lu Jifu may not want to return to the court."

"Otherwise, why would he ask his brother to publicize his copy of County Law in the capital?"

Years ago, Lu Shengqing returned to the court to report on his work and helped Lu Huiqing's work "County Law" to become famous.

As a result, it caused quite a stir.

This caused a stir in public opinion in Bian Jing, and the aftermath has lasted to this day. This is why many people, upon hearing that Lu Huiqing was recommended by Han Jiang, immediately suffered from "New Law PTSD" and were in a state of panic all day long.

why?
Because Lu Huiqing's preface to "County Law" was too bold and too unorthodox.

He openly distorted the teachings of the sages and openly defended his own bloodlust.

He even felt that he was very gentle and restrained.

Otherwise, he would definitely kill more!
Although this person was not in Bian Jing, he made all the officials in Bian Jing feel uneasy.

So, as soon as Han Jiang recommended it, countless people were excited.

If this killer came back.

Who knows how many people will be sacrificed to the gods!

For a while, there was a scene of stones being thrown and dogs barking inside and outside Bianjing.

Feng Jing listened and was stunned.

"Lu Jifu doesn't want to return to the court?"

"Just wait!" Wen Yanbo said, "When Lü Jifu returns to the court, everything will be revealed."

……

Taiyuan, the official residence of the Generalissimo and Pacification Commissioner.

Lu Huiqing was holding a book in her hand and reading slowly.

"My husband..." The door was pushed open and his cousin's husband Li Kui walked in: "My husband Han from the capital has sent a letter."

"Yes!" Lu Huiqing nodded and said, "Si He, please sit down and talk."

Li Kui bowed, sat down in front of Lu Huiqing, and then handed the letter to Lu Huiqing.

Lu Huiqing opened the letter, read it only once, and then narrowed his eyes.

"How is it?" Li Kui asked.

Lu Huiqing smiled and said, "Duke Kang is indeed a trustworthy person!"

"It has been recommended to me as agreed!"

"Si He!" Lu Huiqing looked at Li Kui and said, "Get ready. Once the imperial envoy arrives, come back with me to report on your duties!"

"In a few months, you and I may not be in Hedong anymore."

Li Kui was an official in his court, so he would naturally follow him.

"Return to the capital?" Li Kui became excited: "Does the court really want to appoint you as the Prime Minister?"

Lu Huiqing shook his head: "It's not that simple!"

"Allowing me to return to the capital and meet the young master is the limit of their tolerance for me, Lu Jifu!"

"If you really want me to be your ruler..."

"I'm afraid that not only those evil people in the old party, but even my colleagues in the new party will have trouble sleeping!"

He knows very well how many enemies he has.

The answer is countless!
After all, he even offended Wang Pang, the beloved son of the benevolent Prime Minister Wang Anshi.

Is there anyone else he has not offended?

That's just the way he is.

In order to get things done, I never hesitate to offend people, nor do I hesitate to break up with people.

"Besides..." Lu Huiqing muttered to herself, "I've already taken that cool umbrella."

"I don't care about being in power!"

"If I want to be the prime minister, I'll do it!"

"Let those villains fight each other!"

(End of this chapter)