Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

With the wheat futures contract in hand, Qian Chen happily returned and turned down the Wei family's good intention to stay.

5,000 shi of wheat is enough, and the total price is 6,000 guan (a hundred). Even if he wanted to buy more, he couldn't afford the deposit, and the Jinzhou government couldn't come up with that much money.

This trip went too smoothly, beyond Qian Chen's expectations. His worst plan was that he would not be able to buy grain in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and he would have to go to the Taihu Lake area to buy it.

Taihu Lake is far away and transportation costs are too high.

Wei Qun was sitting in the study, looking at the contract he had just signed, his expression as ugly as possible.

"You traitor, are you slandering your father?" Wei Tai stood behind the window with a cane and watched his grandson leave with his guests.

Wei Qun said angrily: "I don't dare."

Wei Tai seemed to be recalling the past and said quietly: "In the third year of Yuanfu, the new king succeeded to the throne. Zhang Zihou (Zhang Dun) once recommended me to become an official in the court. Do you know why I refused to conquer?"

Wei Qun replied: "My father is indifferent to fame and wealth."

"Fart," Wei Tai said, "Your father and I both dream of becoming an official."

Wei Qun added: "Because Zhang Zihou opposes the new emperor's father because he is afraid of being implicated?"

Wei Tai gave his son a roll of his eyes: "How could I be implicated by Zhang Zihou when my uncle is in court?"

"What worries does father have?" Wei Qun asked curiously.

Wei Tai said: "I'm afraid of being implicated by your uncle."

Wei Qun: "..."

Wei Tai explained: "Your uncle's straightforward temperament is exactly the same as mine. It can even be said that he has the same bad temper. I have already seen him when the official was the Duan Wang. He seemed to be elegant, but in fact he was petty. Your uncle's temper will make him a prime minister sooner or later. Make a fuss with the officials. When King Shu was here, it was difficult to implement new laws, so how can your uncle push it?"

Zeng Bu was included in the history books and was included in "The Biography of Traitors".

But is Zeng Bu really a traitor?

Wang Anshi once said: "When we discuss new laws, the one who always says it is feasible is Zeng Bu; the one who says it is not feasible is Sima Guang. The rest are all rebelling, either leaving or entering."

Wang Anshi was extremely accurate in judging people, and Zeng Bu spent his whole life upholding the new law.

It's just that his way of defending made Wang Anshi so angry that he even impeached Lu Jiawen for using market changes to exploit the people.

This gives the old party an excuse. The backbones of your new party are criticizing the new law, which means there must be something wrong with the new law!

Zeng Bu's move was regarded as betrayal by Wang Anshi, who demoted him from the court.

But when the new party gained power, Zeng Bu was so full that he wanted to betray? He really believed that something had gone wrong in the implementation of the Market Change Law.

Later, the old party gained power and recalled Zeng Bu to the court. However, Zeng Bu always upheld the new law and was ostracized by the old party.

It can be seen that he has never changed, and his persistence in the new law is more pure than anyone else.

Zeng Bu's real problem is that he is too straight-tempered and a bit domineering. In order to drive away Cai Jing, he even threatened the powerful Empress Dowager Xiang face to face.

But Cai Jing said nothing and forced the demolition of a house to the Queen Mother's brother. When things got serious, Cai Jing went to settle things. If any of Xiang's children were in trouble, Cai Jing would be the one to help. Of course Empress Dowager Xiang would protect Cai Jing to the death.

Empress Dowager Xiang stepped down, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty came to power, and Cai Jing was demoted to Hangzhou.

Zeng Bu, who was too strong, had a head-on conflict with Song Huizong. However, Cai Jing bribed Tong Guan wildly and contacted Zeng Bu's enemy Lu Jiawen, and easily brought Zeng Bu down.

Wei Tai said: "Your uncle's biggest mistake was to support the current official. I tried to persuade him but he refused to listen."

"Who would have expected that the official family would be so stupid? The official family at that time was just an idle clan." Wei Qun said.

Wei Tai shook his head: "Your uncle and the officials were already flirting with each other before the late emperor died. There was also a prince-in-law, Wang Shen. The three of them were contacted secretly by Gao Qiu. Otherwise, there would be so many princes and ministers. Why can Gao Qiu become a Taiwei? Do you really think Gao Qiu can only write and play football?"

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty once compared Gao Qiu to Song Chang.

Who is Song Chang?

Lu's family was executed, and the acting king Liu Heng was shocked and doubtful. His subjects all advised him to continue to wait and see. Only Song Chang suggested that Liu Heng go to Chang'an immediately, so Liu Heng went to Beijing and became Emperor Wen of Han.

Therefore, if you think about it carefully, what role will Gao Qiu play in Song Huizong's succession?

The situation at that time was that Song Huizong began to make friends with Wang Shen, Zhao Lingrang and other relatives of the clan several years in advance. Through her relatives and clan, she repeatedly brainwashed Empress Dowager Xiang and made her develop a favorable impression of King Duan.

Su Shi recommended Gao Qiu, a minor official in the government, to Zeng Bu as a minor official.

Zeng Bu also said that his subordinates were enough, so he threw them to Wang Shen. Wang Shen sent Gao Qiu to deliver a grate knife to King Duan, probably taking the opportunity to send information. Wang Shen had a criminal record and was once reprimanded by Song Shenzong for "leaking forbidden Chinese language".

That is to say, Zeng Bu was in charge of the outer court, Wang Shen inquired about the inner court, and Gao Qiu was stationed in Prince Duan's Mansion to handle liaison. The three of them worked together to help Song Huizong up!

"It's useless to talk about your uncle's affairs," Wei Tai said. "I'm afraid Cai Jing won't be so unbridled for a few years."

Wei Qun said: "Cai Jing is old and his days are indeed numbered."

Wei Tai said, "The officials are very jealous. Cai Jing is arrogant and domineering, so how can he not be feared by the emperor? When Zheng Juzhong, Wang Fu and others are full-fledged, Cai Jing should retire and return to his hometown. Your second brother is also an official. If you can't cling to traitors, this Zhu Chenggong is very good. He is already a court official at a young age, and he has the legacy of King Shu. Maybe he can start another reform in charge of the court. "

"How many years will it take to wait?" Wei Qun felt unreliable.

Wei Tai said: "If it doesn't take ten years, it will take twenty years. King Shu and I have been friends for many years, and your uncle has always wanted to reform and strengthen the country. Today, many officials dare to scold Cai Jing, but not many can do anything after scolding Cai Jing." One. Zhu Chenggong is just the right age. He has only been in office for a month or two in Jinzhou, and he can overwhelm Tongpan without any resistance. I am ashamed of myself for this method, which is very similar to your uncle when he was young. "

Wei Qun didn't answer the call again.

Wei Tai continued: "After this autumn's state examination, if Yingwu and Yingshi fail, they will be asked to go to Jinzhou to become Zhu Chenggong's disciple. The fifteen hundred guan lost from selling grain will be regarded as their apprenticeship ceremony. .”

Wei Yingwu and Wei Yingshi were the sons and nephews of Wei Qun.

Wei Qun was finally convinced: "Father can still understand."

Wei Tai started to pretend again: "Do you really think that your father is a completely confused old man? Back then, King Shu had a high position, but he and I fell in love at first sight. We are willing to talk about our friendship. King Shu will make friends with a fool. ? Mi Yuanzhang (Mi Fu) is such an arrogant person. He came to Dengcheng to find me, but he rushed all the way to Tokyo. When he went to Tokyo, he learned that I had returned to his hometown, and he rushed all the way back to Dengcheng, just to be with me. Talk about poetry and Taoism.”

Wei Qun had already heard these words, and immediately echoed them without interrupting his father's bragging.

…

Tokyo, the Duke's Mansion of the State of Lu.

Cai You took the letter and went to his father's study. When he saw his younger brother Cai Tiao was there, he was instantly unhappy.

The father and son Cai Jing and Cai You turned against each other, and the key figure was Cai Tiao.

In recent days, Cai Jing's eyesight has become worse and worse, and many official tasks are handled by Cai Tiao. After two or three years, Cai Jing was completely unable to see, so he entrusted everything to Cai Tiao, and Cai Tiao became the "Little Pavilion Elder" in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Cai Tiao was also Han Qi's grandson-in-law. He quoted a large number of disciples and former officials of the Han family, and for a time he had power over the government and the public.

Instead, Cai You became a marginalized figure. He was so angry that he went to Song Huizong to complain and asked the emperor to kill his younger brother.

At this moment, Cai Jing read, Cai Tiao wrote, the father is kind and the son is filial, creating a harmonious scene.

Cai You stood nearby and was full of jealousy. After this younger brother became an official, he became more and more favored by his father, and also gained the favor of the officials. The emperor affectionately called him "Cai Thirteen" and "Thirteenth Son".

What happened to my brother? It's not like he was born to the same mother.

After Cai Tiao helped write the secret memorial, Cai Jing said, "What's the matter with Liu Lang?"

Cai You replied: "That guy Zhu Ming was transferred to Jinzhou. He acted recklessly and banned the people from gold mining. He caused great harm to the people's livelihood. It is difficult for Li Daochong, the general judge, to deal with it. Otherwise, transfer him away again? Transferring him back and forth will make him unable to live in peace!"

Cai Jing said angrily: "Do you really think that this court belongs to the Cai family? It's natural to transfer them back and forth if you know the state. Then the Zhu family and his son are protected by officials, how can they be transferred whenever they want?"

Cai You said: "You can ask the officials to mobilize them personally."

"Where should he be transferred?" Cai Jing asked, "To Hangzhou or Luoyang? When he reaches the prosperous capital, he will be even more harmful. It is better to pin him to Jinzhou and let him make trouble in the poor place. Zhu Guoxiang has returned to his hometown to visit relatives. Zhu Ming And they are far away in Jinzhou. It is best for them never to return to Tokyo and not even mention it in front of the officials. The longer these two people stay away from Tokyo, the weaker the holy family will be. Maybe the officials will forget them one day. "

"What father said is absolutely true." Cai You felt that this was the truth.

Cai Jing warned: "Remember, if you can intercept all the news about the Zhu family and his son, don't let the officials hear their names again. Also try to intercept the secret messages between the father and son..."

Cai You said: "I'm afraid the secret memorial cannot be stopped. Xue Daoguang has a close relationship with the father and son. When he enters the palace, he can personally hand over the secret memorial to the officials."

"If you can stop him, forget it if you can't," Cai Jing said: "Don't just focus on the Zhu family and his son. Zheng Juzhong and Wang Fu are the real troubles. When you are playing with the officials, you must lead them to hate Wang Fu."

Cai You complained bitterly: "Wang Fu is a shameless person. He always pretends to be a woman and a clown to please the officials. He and Li Bangyan sing and harmonize, but they are ostracizing the children."

Cai Jing, wearing reading glasses, came close to check what he had just written. Without raising his head, he said: "Then read more of the Hua Shi Gang, the more exotic the better. Officials like novelty things. There is a severe drought this spring. Pay attention to the grain supply and don't let it go. Tokyo is short of food.”

"Yes!" Cai You agreed.

"Go." Cai Jing said.

Cai You bowed and exited the study. When he saw his younger brother leaning his head and whispering something next to his father, his mood suddenly became even more unpleasant.

He vented all his anger on Li Daochong, wrote a letter and cursed him, complaining that Li Daochong was useless. He also ordered Li Daochong to live in peace and stay in Jinzhou, and not to conflict with Ju Ming again.

As Cai Jing said, it would be best to keep Ju Ming in Jinzhou. It would be better if he could just wander around in a remote area and not move for a few years.