Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The hungry people gathered in Kaifeng Mansion have dispersed. If they don't disperse, they won't be able to survive. The people in Tokyo are short of food themselves, how can there be any surplus food to give to the hungry?

Fang La revolted in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Song Jiang revolted in Shandong, and Liu Jiujun revolted in Jiangxi. The grain supply from Cao Cao was almost cut off, and all the grain from western Beijing and Huainan had to be supplied to the counter-rebellion army.

The price of rice in Beijing has risen to 1,800 yuan per stone, and is still rising.

Bodies can be cleared out of shantytowns on the outskirts of the city every day.

If you don’t have money to buy food, you will starve to death!

In and outside the city, the lower class people, even if they have jobs, are unable to cope with the soaring food prices. If the family has no savings, they can only go hungry and have a full meal.

Cai You rode out from the palace and went straight to his father's mansion.

The father and son had fallen out, and Song Huizong deliberately provoked trouble by giving Cai You a house so that Cai You could move out and have a place to live.

"Rokuro-kun..." Menzi didn't dare to stop him, so he quietly let someone in to inform him, while he blocked the door to stall for time.

But Cai You walked straight in, found out that his father was in the living room, and barged in without warning.

The guest quickly bowed to him and said, "Meet Academician Cai."

Cai You ignored him and walked directly to his father's side, reaching out to grab his father's veins.

Neither Cai Jing nor Cai Tiao reacted, wondering what this guy was going to do.

Cai You pretended to diagnose his father's pulse and asked, "My pulse is sometimes sparse and sometimes slow. Is there any discomfort?"

Cai Jing replied: "No discomfort."

"There are still important things in the palace, so I'll leave first." After Cai You said this, he turned and left.

The guest was confused: "Why is Rokuro-kun coming and going in such a hurry?"

Cai Jing had already understood and said helplessly: "This traitor wants me to retire due to illness. He also deliberately mentioned the palace, implying that he came under the emperor's order."

But it was said that Cai You stepped out of the gate of Cai Mansion, rode towards the palace on horseback, and was quickly led to see the emperor by the palace officials.

"How?" Song Huizong asked.

Cai You bowed and replied: "As expected by the officials, my father is seriously ill and should retire from official service. It is inconvenient to stay in the court as prime minister."

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty said with emotion: "I have been reluctant to part with Prime Minister Cai for many years."

The Fang La Uprising was such a big mess that one person had to take the blame in order to explain it to the ministers and the people. It happened that Cai Jing was the prime minister, it happened that Cai Jing was unable to reverse the financial dilemma, and it happened that Cai Jing did not support the alliance with Jin to conquer Liao.

Then Cai Jing must take the blame!

But Cai Jing was obsessed with power to the extreme. He was obviously half-blind, and his son Cai Tiao had to act for him in many jobs. But in the face of the Manchu impeachment, the emperor also hinted many times that Cai Jing just pretended to be ignorant and refused to leave the position of prime minister.

The monarch and his ministers discussed the current situation, and Sheng Zhang was brought to the palace again.

Sheng Zhang held out a piece of paper and said: "Guan Jia, this poem was written by Wang Cai in prison. There may be some rebellious intentions in the words."

Song Huizong took it and read it, and sneered: "In the year of White Water, the great road was prosperous, and the thorns were swept away to worship the high truth. Which thorns does he want to sweep away, and which high truth does he want to worship? He will be punished for treason, beheaded and abandon the city!"

Sheng Zhang bowed his head respectfully and stepped aside, unable to stop the smile on his face.

This game was set up by Zheng Juzhong and has been in operation for almost two years.

Liu Bing and Liu Huan were both Cai Jing's confidants, and controlled the household and personnel departments. Zheng Juzhong wanted to get rid of them quickly.

So Lin Lingsu was asked to take action to induce Wang Cai to join the game.

Wang Cai is the son of Wang Shao. He is an excellent poet, loves to practice Taoism, has no political acumen, but is keen on clinging to the powerful.

Wang Cai's sister-in-law is Liu Bing's aunt.

He pestered his sister-in-law to take him to Liu's house and called him brother-in-law with Liu Bing's son, thus demoting himself two generations for nothing. With the help of Liu Bing, he attached himself to Cai Jing.

Lin Lingsu falsely accused Wang Cai of illegally practicing immortality in an attempt to compete with the emperor for the immortal position.

Originally Song Huizong didn't take it seriously, but Wang Cai bribed the eunuch to know the emperor's reaction. This matter was "accidentally" exposed, and Song Huizong was furious, so he threw Wang Cai to Dali Temple for investigation.

Lin Lingsu suddenly lost power and left Beijing, disrupting Zheng Juzhong's plan, and Wang Cai was left without anyone to look after him in Dali Temple.

Recently, Sheng Zhang has continued to do so because he wants to compete with Liu Bing for deputy prime minister.

Sheng Zhang bribed the jailer to induce Wang Cai to write poetry.

Wang Cai was in prison for almost a year. He was so bored that he wrote many poems at once.

Sheng Zhang checked carefully and finally caught the clue.

"In the year of white water, the great road will be prosperous, and the thorns will be swept away to achieve high truth."

The Year of White Water, the Year of Gengzi, is this year!

Wang Cai's original intention was to clear away the thorny issue of Fang La and worship Huizong of the Song Dynasty. Sheng Zhang repeatedly hinted to the emperor that Wang Cai planned to rebel. He had been hinting for several months. Song Huizong immediately exploded after reading these two lines of poetry.

Fang La rebelled in the Gengzi Year, and also used the Demon Cult to cause trouble. However, Wang Cai said that the Gengzi Year was a prosperous one. Could Song Huizong not think too much about it?

Wang Shao expanded thousands of miles of territory for the Song Dynasty, but his son was beheaded in this way.

In the following days, impeachment memorials from the Cai Party and the Zheng Party flew everywhere.

Song Huizong was so troubled that he decided to hold a court meeting.

First, Liu Bing and Liu Huan were involved in Wang Cai's rebellion case and were punished with death according to law.

Fan Zhixu, the Minister of Punishment, interceded for the two men at the court meeting. Because the Song Dynasty treated scholar-bureaucrats leniently, Liu Bing was sentenced to be exiled to Hainan Island; Liu Huan was not deeply involved and was demoted to the deputy envoy of Huangzhou Tuanlian.

Cai Jing's arms in the household department and the official department were cut off by Zheng Juzhong.

This was in line with Song Huizong's wishes. He originally planned to let Cai Jing get out.

But we can no longer pursue and fight fiercely, otherwise the Zheng party will dominate. Song Huizong said: "This is the end of Wang Cai's rebellion. Please don't say more."

How could Zheng Juzhong be willing to give up? He has been planning for two years, but he doesn't just want to eliminate two of Cai Jing's gang members.

Zheng Juzhong did not give the emperor any face, and went out to report: "Your Majesty, Liu Bing has been in office for many years and has recommended many officials. If there may be any accomplices in rebellion among these officials, they should be investigated strictly."

Xue Ang, the minister Zuocheng, immediately counterattacked: "Your Majesty, if all the people recommended by Liu Bing are to sit together, then please find me guilty, and I will also recommend Liu Bing."

The dim-eyed Cai Jing said leisurely: "Your Majesty, Liu Bing and Wang Cai were indeed recommended by me. To promote talents for the country, judging from their character, I never expected that these two people have fallen to this level. I was wrong at the beginning." Prime Minister Zheng and others were also recommended by me, but I really cannot guarantee what will happen to them in the future."

Hearing this, Zheng Juzhong's face turned red. He had relied on Cai Jing to get to the position, and it was indeed Cai Jing who recommended him for promotion.

I can't say any more.

Song Huizong looked at Cai Jing and reminded Cai Jing to resign: "I heard that Cai Qing is ill?"

Cai Jing held the wat board and said: "Your Majesty, who is busy with everything, still cares about my illness, I am really grateful. Thanks to your Majesty's great blessing, I have recovered from my illness."

Song Huizong was so angry that his teeth itched. The more he looked at Cai Jing, the more he felt disgusted. Why did this old guy refuse to leave?

Cai Jing's eyes were dim and he could not see far away. He was standing in the hall like a clay Bodhisattva.

Song Huizong reminded again: "Ai Qing is old and needs more rest."

Cai Jing replied: "Your Majesty, thank you for your concern. I am flattered."

Song Huizong stared at Cai Jing for a long time, and finally walked away.

He has decided that if he refuses to drink the toast, he will let Cai Jing drink as a penalty. However, the Zheng party cannot be allowed to continue the impeachment. The centrist censor must list Cai Jing's various crimes.

The uprisings in various places have not yet subsided, but the monarchs and ministers in the court are fighting more happily.

The next day, while Cai Jing was recuperating at home, a censor quietly came to the door and took out the fresh memorials he had copied.

After Cai Tiao read it, he said: "Sir, this is played by Ju Ming, and the words are extremely fierce."

"Read it." Cai Jing closed his eyes and rested his mind.

Cai Tiao's voice was trembling a little: "Chengwu Lang, Zhi Hanyuan County Secretary Zhu Ming would like to write: In order to speak out the most important thing in the world, to rectify the king's way, to clarify the ministers' duties, and to seek peace and security for all ages. The king, the people of the world, and everything He is the master of all things in the world. However, he is the master of the subjects and all things in the world, and his responsibility is extremely important. If he does not hear about the benefits and disadvantages of the people's livelihood, and does something without knowing it, his responsibility is not worthy..."

Halfway through hearing this, Cai Jing suddenly opened his eyes.

Ju Ming directly copied Hai Rui's "Public Security Notes". This memorial was also called "Frankly Speaking of the First Matters in the World".

Of course, the content also needs to be changed.

Jiajing Jiajing, every house is clean, this is the Taoist priest's special description, and it is impossible to apply it to Song Huizong.

The sentence used to scold Yan Song and Yan Shifan was also changed by Ju Ming to scold the six thieves of the day.

"What a thief!"

Cai Jing suddenly clapped his hands and praised.

Cai Tiao was puzzled: "Ju Ming listed my father as the first of the six thieves, why is my father still happy and applauding?"

Cai Jing said with a smile: "The sea is boiling, and the people are resentful. One Fang La can sink the nine states in the southeast. Now everyone inside and outside wants me to bear the infamy alone. Isn't it great that Ju Ming will add five more people to share the burden with me?" A good thing?"

Cai Tiao was speechless and felt that it made sense.

Yang Jian is not dead yet, so the "six thieves" written by Ju Ming are: Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Wang Fu, Liang Shicheng, Zhu Meng, and Yang Jian.

Cai Jing took a magnifying glass, put it on the paper and read it carefully: "It is appropriate to punish the six thieves and spread the word to the world to thank the world. It is so well written, but it is a pity that Zheng Juzhong is not there, and the wonderful thing is that there is no Zheng Juzhong!"

Cai Tiao's eyes lit up: "After the officials read this, I'm afraid they will suspect that Zheng Juzhong is behind it!"

…

Zheng Juzhong was also watching "Public Security". He eliminated two Cai Party members and was about to force Cai Jing out of the court. He was always in a good mood.

But after reading Ju Ming's memorial, Zheng Juzhong felt miserable and sighed: "Zhu Chenggong misled me!"

Although Zheng Juzhong has a lot of traitors under his command, he has a good reputation. Because in recent years, he has often confronted Cai Jing, and he has indeed given many good suggestions and promoted some upright ministers.

Therefore, Ju Ming did not list him as one of the "six thieves", and Zheng Juzhong did not need to bear the infamy.

But the most powerful person in the inner and outer court was scolded by Ju Ming, except for Zheng Juzhong. What would the emperor think after seeing it?

Might as well scold him too!

What's even more ridiculous is that Ju Ming also complained about the prince, which dragged Zheng Juzhong into the crown prince dispute.

Zheng Juzhong held the memorial and read it again and again. The more he read, the more he wanted to scold his mother.

In his eyes, Ju Ming is just a shit stirrer. The situation in the court that was already clear was about to be messed up again.

Zheng Juzhong thought about it and decided to take the lead and let his party members impeach Ju Ming collectively to show that he did not instruct Ju Ming to do this.

A "Public Security Notice" was already known to all the officials before the emperor even read it.

Ju Ming was not a shit stirrer, but he threw a big stone into the latrine, and all the important officials in the court were splashed with feces.