Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

"There are three sentences above. The first sentence is not to kill scholars and bureaucrats. Emperor Taizu really deserves to be a sage." Therefore, angering Longyan, once the emperor feels unhappy, will lead to the disaster of killing him, but... once the matter passes and the emperor's anger dissipates, he will regret that he killed his loyal ministers because of his anger. If he really regrets at that time, everything will be lost It was too late, but Emperor Taizu saw a little bit, so he set up a stone tablet to warn future generations of kings, and it is precisely because of this that in the nearly 50 years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, I have never killed a person because of the minister's blunt advice, although... It is inevitable that he will be dismissed and demoted..."

Hearing this, Defang looked at Zhenzong, and Zhenzong also sighed softly, "At least he is still alive, and in the future... he can still return to the temple..."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I also believe it will."

Zhenzong nodded, and the two walked to the side of the wooden fence to look at the palace. Zhenzong said, "Brother Emperor, who do you think is the most capable minister in Song Dynasty?"

"The most capable? This minister can't say for sure."

Zhenzong smiled, "There are too many virtuous ministers and capable officials in the Great Song Dynasty. They have all contributed to their homeland and benefited the people, and each has its own merits. It is indeed difficult to say who is the most capable."

"What Your Majesty said is that I believe that there will be more talents on the temple in the future."

"Yes" Zhenzong nodded, "brother, do you still remember King Han (Zhao Pu)?"

"Of course I remember that the King of Han assisted the Emperor Taizu in founding the Great Song Dynasty, and offered advice to the late emperor to govern the country. I also had the honor to ask for advice. King Han's achievements are unmatched."

"That's right, King Han is very talented and resourceful, but he doesn't read much. The Emperor Taizu always advised him to study hard. Someone once told the late Emperor that King Han only read one Analects, and the late Emperor summoned him King Han asked for the truth, but King Han said that he had indeed only read one Analects of Confucius. After King Han died of illness, his family found a separate copy of Analects from his bookcase. The theory that the Analects of Confucius ruled the world is because the king of Han said to the first emperor: I use half of the Analects to assist the Taizu to pacify the world, and now use the other half to assist Your Majesty in governing the peaceful and prosperous world, and nothing I say or say will be published in this book."

"It turns out that the King of Han used a book of the Analects to help the Taizu and assist the late emperor. Such a hero and virtuous person amazed the world."

"That's right, but King Han once made a joke... Of course, it looks ridiculous now, but it was very serious back then."

"Your Majesty is talking about the bronze mirror?"

"Yes, in the fourth year of Jianlong, Taizu ordered Han Wang, who was still the prime minister at that time, to replace Jianlong with a new year name. Han Wang thought about it for a few days and played the chosen year name Qiande. Taizu was also very satisfied with this new year name. , So the fourth year of Jianlong was changed to the first year of Qiande, and in the third year of Qiande, after the death of Emperor Taizu, the palace ladies and property were sent to the capital. One day, Emperor Taizu saw a concubine's bronze The mirror was very beautiful, so he picked it up and took a closer look, but saw the words "Qiande four years" engraved on the back of the bronze mirror. Will there be four years of Qiande? Han Wang was also surprised, and did not answer for a long time. For this reason, Taizu specially summoned scholars Tao Gu and Dou Yi to inquire about this. They said: This mirror must be the former A thing of Shu. Because the former King Yan of Shu had used the year name of Qiande, this mirror should have been cast decades ago. Only then did Emperor Taizu and King Han understand, and Taizu lamented that the prime minister must use scholars Yes, so I advise King Han to study more and pay more attention to literati." Zhenzong turned his head and asked, "Brother, I asked the officials in the treasury and the people in the harem, but I didn't find this bronze mirror. I don't know if you have seen it Pass."