Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Two years ago, Kaifeng held the Lantern Festival, which lasted for five days and five nights and was very lively.

In the early morning of the next day, auspicious clouds floated in the sky above Bianliang, and a group of cranes flew around the Xuanhe Hall, arguing and responding, and lingered for a long time.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was overjoyed and drew the famous "Auspicious Crane Picture" by himself.

With this auspiciousness, the Lantern Festival last year and this year became more and more grand each time.

The heavy snowstorm in winter almost froze to death all the beggars in the city, but it did not affect the prosperous scene of "Fengheng Henan University" at all.

Just looking at the lights all over the city tonight and the crowds of people, you can tell how prosperous the Song Dynasty was!

On the imperial tower, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was watching the lanterns.

He pointed to the Aoshan lantern, which was fifty meters high and five hundred meters wide. He smiled and said to his attendants: "During the Han and Tang Dynasties, were there any such large lanterns?"

"This has never happened before," the eunuch Yang Jian said flatteringly. "The wealth of this dynasty has never been seen in ancient times. It all depends on the presence of saints."

Yang Jiang had just been appointed as the military governor of Changhua, and he was about to establish an escort army for the emperor to travel. He was also a eunuch with military power.

Not to be outdone, the eunuch Yang Qiu quickly flattered him and said, "The civil and military skills of the officials are as good as those of the ancient sage kings, Yao and Shun."

"Haha," Song Huizong was very happy and said with a smile, "This is too much. Compared with Yao and Shun, I am still far behind."

Yang Qiu added: "Then he is on par with Tang Taizong. Although Tang Taizong's martial arts were high, he was not as good as the official's martial arts. When the Holy Dynasty pacified Xixia and conquered Yanyun, then the official's martial arts would be unparalleled, and even Tang Taizong could not compare. .”

Of course Song Huizong could hear such obvious flattery, as if he were joking with his servant: "You, an old prodigy, say some flattering words to me, I will not give you a reward."

Yang Qiu bowed and said, "Share your worries for the saint without asking for rewards."

Song Huizong smiled even more happily and continued to watch the lanterns with the royal family and palace people.

At the beginning of his succession to the throne, he accepted advice with an open mind, worked hard to govern, and reconciled party disputes. He was also a wise king.

This state lasted less than two years, and then he ran out of patience.

The old and new parties were very foolish and often disobedient, which put Song Huizong in a dilemma. Cai Jing took advantage of the opportunity and took the throne, and figured out the emperor's thoughts. The emperor and his ministers began to clean up the court.

Regardless of the new or old party, as long as they oppose the emperor, they will all be labeled as traitors!

Moreover, the party has imposed restrictions, and even the descendants of the "treacherous party" are not allowed to stay in the capital, let alone serve as officials in the imperial examination.

Due to the overwhelming criticism from the government and the public, Song Huizong and Cai Jing had to make superficial concessions, and Cai Jing was even demoted from the capital for a time.

Last year, Cai Jing returned to the Prime Minister, summed up the failure experience, and made two adjustments.

First, bribe ministers with high-ranking officials and generous salaries. This made the phenomenon of redundant officials even more serious. There were hundreds of officials from the three provinces above the fifth rank, and some even received more than ten salaries per person.

Second, Cai Jing's suggestions and suggestions were all secretly reported to Song Huizong. Song Huizong bypassed the central government and issued orders directly to relevant departments. The monarch and his ministers joined forces to destroy the administrative procedures and completely took control of the court.

The eunuch Yang Qiu unexpectedly became famous and almost became the "eunuch holding pen" - he could imitate Song Huizong's handwriting!

Many imperial edicts were written by Yang Qiu, and Song Huizong had no idea about this.

A large number of distinguished ministers imitated Cai Jing and secretly gave Yang Qiu gifts. After Yang Qiu received the money, he dared to wholesale imperial edicts and help those noble ministers with their affairs.

This confused Cai Jingdu. Why did the toilet he built himself become a public toilet?

On the imperial tower, a group of imperial concubines were running around and laughing, pointing at the lanterns below the city.

Zhao Fujin is eight years old this year. He is holding a lantern in his hand and he is jumping up and down: "Daddy, daddy, this is the lantern given to me by my mother-in-law! Isn't it beautiful?"

"Very beautiful, as beautiful as Fu Jin!"

Song Huizong had a doting smile on his face. This was his most beautiful daughter and his favorite daughter.

Hearing his father's praise, Zhao Fujin became even more happy. He held a lantern and ran around in circles, running and jumping around the palace people.

Song Huizong was in a happy mood and saw that the city was brightly lit. He couldn't help but became very excited about poetry and composed two poems on the spot. After looking at it horizontally and vertically, he was not very satisfied, so he said to his attendant: "Such a grand scene should be accompanied by good lyrics. I summon Wan Qiyong and Chao Duanli to go up to the imperial tower to write lyrics!"

"Guan family, Mr. Chao has died of illness." A eunuch reminded.

Song Huizong was stunned: "When did it happen?"

The eunuch said: "It snowed heavily for several days a while ago, and Mr. Chao fell ill and died."

"It's really unlucky," Song Huizong was affected and ordered, "Call Wan Qiyong here and fill in some happy words."

After Cai Jing took control of the court, Su Xue was officially banned, and there was only one Ci school in the entire Huizong Dynasty: Dasheng Ci.

The writing characteristics of Dasheng poets are as follows: praising the emperor's virtues, singing about peace, romantic affairs, and lamenting life. His words are extremely sophisticated and his melody is particularly harmonious.

Wan Qiyong and Chao Duanli are the best among them.

The former was recommended by Zhou Bangyan, and the latter was recommended by Cai Jing. They had to accompany Song Huizong to compose lyrics and have fun every month.

…

Further down the street, Cai Jing was also admiring the lanterns, accompanied by many close relatives, one of whom was Liu Siming, the Imperial College's sacrificial wine.

A few months ago, Liu Siming was just doing a small job. He helped Cai Jing impeach political opponents, overthrew the right prime minister Zhang Shangying, and instantly rose to power and took charge of the Imperial College and Imperial College.

Zhang Shangying is one of the leaders of the New Party.

At this time, in the Great Song Dynasty, there was no longer any struggle between the old and new parties, only a pure struggle for power. The fight between the new party and the new party is the most fierce, because the old party has become irrelevant.

"Grand Master," Liu Siming bent down to follow him and said close to him, "The word "near" refers to the Lantern Festival."

Cai Jing smiled and said, "Come and listen."

Liu Siming immediately sang: "The east wind blows thousands of trees and flowers at night. It blows down, and the stars are like rain. BMWs and carved cars fill the road with fragrance..."

Cai Jing clapped his hands and praised: "Good words, but who wrote them?"

"Zhu Chenggong, a scholar from the eighth line of Lizhou Road," Liu Siming said insinuatingly, "Kang Guogong and Lizhou Tixue both recommended this person to study in Taixue. I don't know whether I should approve him or not."

Cai Jing behaved quite generously: "If the Qian and Lu families like someone, give them some face. Let's record it first."

If you enroll first, you can give Ju Ming a student status, but you have to slowly fill in the gaps. After all, the number of Taipei students is limited.

Since he had just been dismissed as prime minister, Cai Jing now uses both soft and hard tactics, resolutely attacking political opponents with clear stances, and wooing the rest if he can. For example, Lu You's father, strictly speaking, was a "party prisoner" son and did not even have the right to live in Bianliang, but Cai Jing allowed him to become a minor official in the capital.

"I also know this poem by Zhu Chenggong," Wang Fu said. "In just one month, it has been sung in many places in Tokyo. The phrase 'talented people have emerged from generation to generation, and each has led the way for hundreds of years', which is so true. Do my best to show my pride."

Cai Jing laughed loudly: "When you hear this sentence, you know that you are crazy."

Feng Xizai quickly flattered him: "The Grand Master's eyes are as bright as a torch, this person must have had a crazy life."

Liu Siming, Wang Fu, and Feng Xizai were all upstarts promoted by Cai Jing.

Especially Wang Fu, who had only passed the Jinshi examination for a few years. Because he helped Cai Jing regain his prime ministership and attacked Zhang Shangying, the right prime minister, he had become Cai Jing's absolute confidant. In less than two years, a mere school clerk was promoted to the title of Imperial Censor Zhongcheng like a rocket.

The group of people were chatting and watching the lanterns, when they saw a horse galloping towards them. The eunuch riding on the horse shouted: "Get out of the way, get out of the way, where is Wan Qiyong? Where is Wan Qiyong..."

Wan Qiyong was enjoying the lanterns with his family at the moment. When the eunuch found him, his voice was already hoarse.

"Mr. Wanqi, please make it easy for us to find him. Come on your horse quickly, don't keep the officials waiting for too long!" the eunuch said anxiously.

Wan Qiyong had no choice but to leave his family and ride on the same horse with the eunuch.

There was wine on the imperial tower, and the emperor and empress were drinking and enjoying the lanterns.

Wan Qiyong panted and ran upstairs: "I pay homage to the official and my empress!"

Song Huizong said with a smile: "Sit down quickly, I'm waiting for your words. The pen, ink, paper and inkstone are all set up. Let's write a poem to celebrate the Lantern Festival."

Wan Qiyong had been imagining ideas all the way. At this moment, he sat down, calmed his breath, and wrote:

""Drunk Penglai": The waves are full of silver men, the dripping copper pot is a good sign of the Yuan Dynasty. The silver candles and lamps are like stars. The bright moon chases people, and the dark dust follows the horses, making the five mausoleums rich and noble. The temples provoke dark clouds, and the skirts If you drag the Xiang River, no one will be beautiful."

"To the south of the Golden Tower and to the north of the Caishan, there are Luo Qi and the boiling sky. Songs are playing. The six-fold screen is spread out, holding three thousand pearls and emeralds. The emperor's music is deep, the smoke from the phoenix furnace is blowing, looking at Shun's face and paying homage. There is peace and peace, and the monarch and his ministers are enjoying themselves. , the people are drunk with joy."

After seeing it, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty immediately clapped his hands and praised: "It's so peaceful and peaceful, the king and his ministers are feasting, and the people are drunk. It really suits the scene of today's prosperous age!"

Wan Qiyong raised his hands and said: "When the saint comes to court, the world will naturally be peaceful and happy. Your Majesty loves the people, how can all the people not sing in unison to praise him?"

"Wanqi Xianyou knows me," Song Huizong said with a smile, "Since I came to the throne, I have been determined to innovate and promote new laws in order to make the people rich. I love you, please drink with me!"

Empress Zheng personally poured wine for Wan Qiyong. Wan Qiyong quickly confessed and drank a glass of wine carefully.

Scanning the new lyrics, Empress Zheng was a little worried.

She was born as a palace maid, and her family had long been in decline. She was a pawn placed by the Empress Dowager Xiang around Song Huizong. Because she was beautiful, well-behaved and sensible, and could also help the emperor handle memorials, when the queen died of illness, she was promoted to the queen.

This was a wise empress with considerable means. Due to the empty treasury, even her queen's crown was made from the old concubine's crown, just to save some money.

When she was a noble concubine, Zheng Juzhong, a new Jinshi, claimed to be her clan brother. Although this relative had many twists and turns, she still accepted it and worked together internally and externally to consolidate her position.

Now, Zheng Juzhong and Cai Jing are getting together, and everyone in the court is angry.

Empress Zheng felt that this was a recipe for disaster, and had already thought of a plan to expel her own father and brothers from the court on the grounds that her relatives were not allowed to participate in politics! (Historically, this saved the lives of the whole family. She persuaded Jin Bing not to arrest her natal family because no one in the Zheng family was an official.)

What does peace mean, when the king and his ministers feast, and the people are drunk?

Empress Zheng, who had suffered a lot among the people since childhood, knew very well what was going on at the bottom of the Song Dynasty. But the emperor in front of him, as well as his imperial poets, were here to praise the prosperous age.

If Song Huizong died at this moment, and Empress Zheng took the young emperor to listen to politics behind the curtain, it might be a different story.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty tasted the poem repeatedly, and the more he read it, the more he liked it. He also said: "This poem is not enough for drinking. Today is very lively. I love you and I will fill in another poem to add to the fun."

Wan Qiyong thought hard for a long time and had no idea for the time being, so he had to hand over his hand and said: "Officials are good at writing lyrics, and ministers dare not perfunctory. Composing a mediocre poem will only stain the eyes of the saint."

Song Huizong did not force him, but just sighed: "Qing and Chao Duanli were by my side in the past, and they complemented each other. It's a pity that he died and did not survive the heavy snow. I don't know when another person will be able to take over." "

Suddenly, a nearby eunuch said: "Officials, a word that has been sung in Bianliang recently is also about the Lantern Festival."

"Oh, come and listen." Song Huizong was quite interested.

Song Huizong liked art, and many of the waiters around him were talented. The eunuch immediately recited "The Green Jade Case·Yuan Xi".

After hearing this, Song Huizong immediately praised: "What a talented person. Who is this person?"

Wan Qiyong said: "I have also heard about it. It was written by Zhu Chenggong, a scholar from Lizhou."

Song Huizong immediately said to Yang Qiu: "Come and write the imperial edict on your behalf and summon Zhu Chenggong, a scholar from Lizhou Road, to enter the Dasheng Mansion!"

Dasheng Mansion was an institution specially set up by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty to collect, organize and create poetry and music.

Once you enter the Dasheng Mansion and have no fame, you will have to write lyrics for the emperor for the rest of your life.

Ju Ming came here because his brain was filled with water. He must find a reason to shirk it.