Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

(Errors in previous chapters have been corrected.)

After the Lantern Festival, Zhu Ming stayed at the inn to read in the morning, then set up a stall and cooperated with Chen Yuan in giving lectures in the afternoon.

Yin Shengzhang of Kaifeng Prefecture did not come to cause trouble again. This guy likes to play intrigues and tricks, and he makes decisions before acting. He is collecting evidence of disobedience to "Tao Yongxue".

That is to say, someone is sent to listen to the lecture every day, carefully record the content, and then find an opportunity to make arrests.

Cai Jing had no intention of paying attention to them. Ju Ming was just a nobody.

Cai Xianggong's attention was focused on the battle to conquer Xixia, and the court was also revolved around this important event.

The great eunuch Tong Guan has led the imperial army to set off and is stationed in Lanzhou.

Liu Fa, the military commander of the Xihe Road, led an army of 150,000 people out of Huangzhou; Liu Zhongwu, the military commander of the Qinfeng Road, led an army of 50,000 people out of Huizhou. Their attack targets were Qingshui Hebei boundary (in Ningxia) and Zhuoluo City (Yongdeng, Gansu).

The food shortage problem of the border troops has also been temporarily solved. The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers.

Throughout the spring offensive, the Song army went very smoothly.

Liu Fa was a famous general in the Northern Song Dynasty and was known as a "natural god general" at this time. He was not well-known in later generations because his son participated in the mutiny and the court deliberately concealed his achievements. As a result, the "History of the Song Dynasty" did not give him a biography.

During the Zhe Zong dynasty, this man was victorious in all external battles and killed more than 10,000 people within two years. In the fourth year of Huizong's reign at Chongning, he pursued hundreds of miles in a battle and captured more than 10,000 Xixia troops.

This spring, Liu Fa led an army of 150,000 to attack and defeated Xixia again at Gu Gulong (Qinghai Ledu).

It's a pity that Liu Fa is too upright and doesn't know how to flatter.

For example, a few years ago, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty formulated Dasheng Music and sent officials to enact it throughout the world. Liu Fa, who was commanding the troops on the front line, did not personally greet the music officials, and was actually dismissed from his post as military envoy and Yuhou, the capital of the three yamen.

Now facing a war, the imperial court had to re-activate it because Liu Fa was the number one general in the northwest!

This man had a bad relationship with Tong Guan, and later fell into Tong Guan's hands.

Tong Guan labeled him "a bully" and forced Liu Fa to go deep alone. He was attacked from both sides by the Xixia army.

Hungry, cold, tired, hungry, surrounded, and his horses were dying of thirst, Liu Fa led his army to fight fiercely for most of the day and successfully broke through the siege under the cover of night. He was intercepted by the Xixia army in Zhugu Gorge. Liu Falian and his horse fell off the cliff and broke both legs. The life or death of the general was uncertain, but his subordinates still fought bloody battles and rushed out of the valley with the remaining soldiers.

Liu Fa, who broke his legs, was discovered by the Xixia logistics troops.

A famous general in the world died at the hands of a small logistics soldier.

In this battle, the 20,000 troops led by Liu Fa were almost completely wiped out. The Xixia army took advantage of the victory and advanced, and the Song army eventually lost 100,000 troops!

No matter what the situation will be in the future, anyway, in the spring of this year, the Song army was reporting frequent successes. The emperor and his ministers were feasting and celebrating, and they had already been determined to destroy Xixia for three years.

…

Gongyuan, examination room.

The chief examiner of this year's provincial examination is Wang Fu, and the deputy examiners are Murong Yanfeng, Zhai Ruwen and Feng Xizai.

Wang Fu, one of the six thieves.

He came to power by currying favor with Cai Jing, but under the inducement of Song Huizong, he secretly joined forces with Zheng Juzhong, and his relationship with Cai Jing became increasingly bad.

Murong Yanfeng, Cai Jing's political opponent.

He was once excluded by Cai Jing and demoted to the magistrate of Ruzhou. He was recalled by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty and promoted to Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice. Now he is a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.

Zhai Ruwen, the political enemy of Cai Jing and Liang Shicheng.

Liang Shicheng forcibly demolished people's graves and occupied land to build gardens. Zhai Ruwen was impeached by Shangshu, but was ostracized by Liang Shicheng and demoted to the magistrate of Xuanzhou. He was recalled to the court, demoted to Luzhou as the magistrate, and then moved to Mizhou as the magistrate. Because of the impeachment of Cai Jing's Salt Law, which harmed the people, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty summoned him back to Beijing to become a Hanlin scholar.

Feng Xizai, a great scholar and a famous official.

The relationship with Cai Jing is good or not. He has cultivated party members for many years and has his own small circle.

Of the four examiners, one has turned his back on Cai Jing, two are Cai Jing’s political opponents, and one is Cai Jing’s potential competitor.

Song Huizong's arrangement is easy to imagine that the "anti-Cai" officials were secretly celebrating.

You know, the last examiner was Cai Jing’s best friend, Cai Hao!

The four of them were locked in the Gongyuan waiting for the exam, and they did not get along well because Murong Yanfeng and Zhai Ruwen were both soft-spoken people. They didn't care whether Wang Fu had a falling out with Cai Jing, they only knew that Wang Fu was a traitor and the same person as Cai Jing.

"Fu has little qualifications. He is a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy for the first time, and he was ordered by the emperor to know about the tribute examination." Wang Fu raised his glass and said, "The three ministers are mature and prudent. If I have made any omissions, please give me some advice."

Feng Xizai said with a smile: "Your Excellency is the chief examiner, and we are only deputy examiners. How can we overshadow the examination?"

Wang Fu secretly cursed the old fox and continued to smile and say nice things. He wanted to win over Murong Yanfeng and Zhai Ruwen to form an "Anti-Cai Alliance".

And Feng Xizai had the same idea. This person has been forming cliques, secretly accumulating strength, and holding back, never confronting Cai Jing head-on.

Zhai Ruwen had no expression on his face as he poured himself a glass of wine and said, "Selecting scholars through the imperial examination is just a matter of dedicating oneself to the officialdom. Scholar Wang does not need to say much."

Zhai Ruwen looked down on Wang Fu. When he was dating Su Shi and Huang Tingjian, Wang Fu was still wearing crotchless pants. He even dared to criticize Liang Shicheng and Cai Jing, but a mere Wang Fu would lose his status if he said more than a few words.

"Eat wine." Murong Yanfeng said.

Zhai Ruwen raised a toast to welcome him and chatted with Murong Yanfeng, but he was too lazy to look at Wang Fu again.

They are all foxes of thousands of years. What kind of "Liao Zhai" are they talking about?

Murong Yanfeng and Zhai Ruwen knew why they were recalled to the court. As long as they don't offend the emperor, the harder they spray Cai Jing, the happier Song Huizong will be. Once they surrendered to any force, Song Huizong would be wary.

Although the four examiners dislike each other, they still have to work together.

They must work together to formulate questions and explain the questions so that their officials can mark the papers.

It is also necessary to review the qualifications of the candidates, arrange and announce the seats of the candidates.

Finally, they have to lead the marking process.

The four of them had to review tens of thousands of examination papers, and they started working before the Lantern Festival.

"I'm from Danyang, and my surname is Zhai. Brother Gongxun, this is your junior, right?" Murong Yanfeng picked up a piece of paper and said.

Zhai Ruwen came over to take a look, and said with a smile: "My great-nephew is still young, and it is his first time to find out. I don't want him to be named on the gold medal list, but it is good to see the world."

Murong Yanfeng said: "Brother Gongxun's family has a long history of education, so his nephews and grandchildren will definitely be able to go to high school."

"That's not necessarily the case." Zhai Ruwen smiled.

The two of them were chatting, reviewing and signing the petitions, and arranging seats for the candidates who should issue petitions.

Although Murong Yanfeng was an upright man, he still showed some petty favoritism. For example, arrange a good position for Zhai Ruwen's grandnephew. Not next to the toilet, and not afraid of wind and sun.

Zhai Ruwen suddenly said: "Hey, this Zhu Mingzhu Chenggong seems to be a man whose poems are famous in the capital."

"It's not just poetry," Murong Yanfeng said. "Two days before I went to Gongyuan, I heard that Chen Zhimo was giving lectures by the Cai River. Zhu Ming was Chen Zhimo's disciple."

Zhai Ruwen asked: "Who is Chen Zhimo?"

Murong Yanfeng said: "Chen Yuan, Chen Guan's nephew, Yang Shi's disciple."

"You can be considered a member of my generation." Zhai Ruwen shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Zhai Ruwen became famous at a young age. He was both a teacher and a friend of Su Shi and Huang Tingjian, and he was a very obvious Shu Party figure.

Nowadays, regardless of the Shu Party or the Luo Party, they are all brothers in distress. Even the Shu School and the Luo School are officially banned.

Not only did Zhai Ruwen give Ju Ming a good position, but the nine Yangzhou scholars who were guarantors with Ju Ming were also assigned better positions.

Zhai Ruwen asked: "Does Chen Zhimo dare to promote Luo Xue in Tokyo?"

Murong Yan met with a smile and said: "I asked my disciple to listen for a day. He claimed to develop new learning, but in fact he was not a sect. Instead, he drew on the strengths of others and put forward the three theories of Woben, Fangju and Daoyong. He also said that the common people's daily use is For the Tao.”

Zhai Ruwen was surprised and said: "The common people follow the Tao every day, which is quite the style of our Shu school!"

Murong Yanfeng joked: "Don't try to flatter yourself. It's not like I haven't read Su Zi's article."

"Tell me, what are the novelties of those three theories?" Zhai Ruwen said while signing the review.

Therefore, Murong Yanfeng began to preach Yongpai theory. He was locked up in Gongyuan early and only allowed his disciples to listen for one day. He knew the general theory, but couldn't explain many details.

Zhai Ruwen put down his brush and thought, "Perhaps, we can support them in teaching."

Murong Yanfeng said: "I think so too."

Both schools of thought to which they belong have been officially banned.

They urgently need to support a school of thought to compete with the mainstream new learning and correct the evil theories in the new learning.

When the new school of thought becomes popular, slowly add sand and add your own ideas into it.

Until evening, Wang Fu suddenly came in: "Two bachelors, we have an emergency at home and need to go back."

Zhai Ruwen's face turned ugly for a moment: "What's the urgent matter, which is more important than getting a scholar through the imperial examination?"

Wang Fu said: "The youngest son is seriously ill."

Zhai Ruwen sneered: "Your Excellency, are you proficient in medical skills?"

Wang Fu said: "I know a little bit."

Zhai Ruwen said: "Since you are not proficient in medical skills, then please stay in Gongyuan!"

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, if the examiner dared to leave the Gongyuan, he would be imprisoned after being reported.

In the Song Dynasty, it was allowed, but other examiners must be informed, and leaving without permission was also a serious crime.

The last examiner, Cai Hao, left Gongyuan midway. Many people suspected that he had leaked the exam questions, but they had to give up without providing evidence.

Murong Yanfeng sneered and said, "If you leave Gongyuan, I will impeach you and make this matter public to the world!"

Wang Fu was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect these two people to be so tough.

He was so angry that he walked away, full of resentment in his heart, and vowed to banish these two people from the court in the future.

Zhai Ruwen got up and went to the front and back gates of Gongyuan. After a round of inspection, he told the soldiers guarding the door: "Cheer up and don't let anyone in or out. If anyone dares to approach Gongyuan, arrest him immediately without any mistake!"

"Yes!" the soldiers responded quickly.

Gongyuan and the like have sufficient food reserves.

Then someone sent a supply of meat and vegetables, and they kept an eye on them the whole time, unless they could bribe most of the soldiers and handymen.

Ju Ming was very lucky and met two responsible examiners.