In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

The next day, the news that two Jinshi from the Ma family were arrested caused a sensation throughout Bianliang.

Han Zong got the news that day and was completely panicked.

Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu are not little people. In terms of origin, they are direct descendants of the Ma family. In terms of imperial examination, they are from Jinshi. In terms of positions, one is a supervisory censor and the other is a judge of the third division.

In the Song Dynasty, the official who was not punished by punishment actually did not refer to the official who entered the official position in Menyin or the kind of official who was born with the same Jinshi family background.

Because many such officials were arrested in the Song Dynasty.

During the seventeen years of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's reign, more than 4,000 officials, big and small, were executed.

During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, although officials were not often killed, there were several ways to punish corrupt officials, such as removal, suspension, replacement, replacement, dismissal, removal from office, demotion, and dismissal.

But one thing they have in common is that even if officials are severely punished, those who are usually punished are officials with lower official status such as Men Yin and Jinshi.

However, officials who are ranked first, second or third grade, as well as those from wealthy families, are often not severely punished.

Even if the government and opposition parties criticize him, the forced punishment is only symbolic. Basically, he will be demoted for a few months, or at most a year and a half, and then he will be promoted again by Zhao Zhen.

This phenomenon was not particularly prominent in the Zhao Kuangyin era, so official governance was the best in the Zhao Kuangyin era.

It was slightly relaxed in the Zhao Guangyi era, and then reached its peak in the late Song Zhenzong and Song Renzong Zhao Zhen periods. From then on, the Song Dynasty could not punish officials at all.

But now something different has emerged.

Two Jinshis from the Ma family, who came from wealthy families and were Jinshis, were arrested like this?

What about yourself?

Han Zong was panicked for a moment. He asked himself that he had worked in Kaifeng Mansion for so many years and had done a lot of dirty things. What would happen if Zhao Jun found out about him?

So when the news of Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu's arrest came, Han Zong hurried straight to Han Yi's mansion.

Although the wealth of Han Yi's family is not as rich as that of the Lu family, they still own a mansion. When Han Zong arrived at the door of the mansion, he ignored the servants at the door and the maids in the mansion calling him "Erlang" and "Xiaoyanei" all the way, and went straight to the backyard.

At this moment, Han Yi had just returned home. Zhao Jun raided Ma's house on the fourth day after raiding Kaifeng Mansion, at noon. Han Zong got the news in the afternoon and came to see Han Yi.

So at this time, Han Yi had just left the Privy Council for a short time. He was in the dressing room in his backyard. With the help of the maid, he changed his court clothes into ordinary clothes. As he was tidying up the dressing room, he heard a voice outside the door: "Father!"

Han Yi didn't look back. He looked at himself in the bronze mirror and continued to take care of his collar slowly. There were rapid footsteps behind him, and Han Zong shouted again: "Father, something serious is going to happen."

"How unbecoming is it to yell and scream in the mansion? How many times have I told you that you won't change your mind until the mountain collapses? Why are you so flustered?"

Han Yi was a little dissatisfied and was still arranging his hair.

Han Zong said with a sad face: "Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu were just kidnapped by people from the Imperial City Division."

Han Yi's movements suddenly froze, and then he was silent for a moment. He lowered his hand and said to the maid beside him: "You guys can get out."

"yes."

The two maids bowed and left.

"Father, what should I do?"

Han Zong stepped forward and said, "I didn't expect that Zhao Jun would be so rampant and even arrested members of the Ma family. I'm afraid he will catch me sooner or later."

"well."

Han Yi let out a long sigh, turned around, put his hands behind his back, and walked into the yard.

The big trees in the yard have fallen leaves. Compared with Zhao Jun's simple two-entry courtyard, Han Yi's residence covers an area of ​​seven or eight acres. There are more than ten towering trees in the yard, the flower beds and grass are colorful in red and green, and the gentle breeze brings a light touch. The fragrance of osmanthus.

There is a rockery pond on one side of the backyard. Han Yi walked to the pavilion beside the pond, sat on a chair beside the pavilion, looked at the goldfish swimming in the pond next to him, and fell into deep contemplation.

"Father."

Han Zong followed, lowered his head and asked, "What should we do now?"

Han Yi didn't respond, just thinking.

Han Zong asked twice more, but when he saw that he still didn't speak, he had to wait.

After a while, Han Yi suddenly said: "Zhong Wen."

Han Zong said hurriedly: "Father."

"You have taken a lot from Kaifeng Mansion over the years. If you hand it over now and plead guilty to the officials, you may be given a lighter sentence."

Han Yi said.

Han Zong's face turned pale in an instant, and he said with a mournful face: "Father is going to treat his son as an abandoned son."

Han Yi shook his head: "I don't want to do this, but these days, I have been watching the actions of the officials. Do you know? In the past, the officials would never have given the Imperial City Division such authority."

Han Zong said silently: "So what? Do the officials really want to take action against us? If so, can't they just find an excuse to dismiss us from office?"

"But the official didn't do this, so my father was thinking that there might be some other reasons."

Han Yi thought for a long time, and finally sighed: "That's all, let's test the officials again. See if you can contact the colleagues of Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu, as well as the disciples and former officials of the Ma family, and then write a letter to the officials to make a fuss. No, if the officials are willing to let go, there may be room for maneuver. "

Han Zong said: "I'm afraid it's not enough to just find these people. Aren't there enough quarrels between Yushitai and Jianyuan these days? Maybe we should find Lu Xiang and others. The officials gave the Imperial City Division the authority, but now the Imperial City Division has taken it. Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu want to kill the scholar-bureaucrats."

"what you up to?"

Han Yi asked.

“Three years after Emperor Yizu was appointed, a stele was erected in the side room of the sleeping hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. There were three lines of oath on the stele. One line said: ‘If the descendants of the Chai family are guilty, they shall not be punished. Even if they commit treason, they shall be executed in prison, and shall not be executed in the market, nor shall their relatives be implicated.’ The second line said: ‘Scholars and officials shall not be killed, and those who write letters to express their opinions shall not be killed.’ The third line said: ‘If any of the descendants violate this oath, the heaven will punish them.’”

Han Zong’s face was as gloomy as water and he said: “The government is going against the laws of the ancestors by doing this. I think we must contact all the officials in the court, and ask Prime Minister Lu, Prime Minister Wang and all the officials in the court to petition the government together. Even if the two Mas have committed dereliction of duty, they should be tried by the Dali Temple, not the Imperial City Department!”

According to Lu You’s “Miscellaneous Notes on Summer Vacation”, this incident was the source of the Song Dynasty’s not killing scholars and officials. In the Zhao Kuangyin era, a stele was indeed erected saying that scholars and officials would not be killed. But he himself did not abide by it and killed many corrupt officials.

But after the efforts of the literati of the three dynasties of Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Heng and Zhao Zhen, they finally fooled Zhao Heng and Zhao Zhen and made them treat the literati better and better.

Basically, except for the military power and the appointment and removal of senior officials, all other powers belonged to the literati. So now Zhao Zhen gave the power to the Imperial City Department, which was to snatch the power of the literati, which made the literati very dissatisfied.

But this matter was not engraved in the Taizu stele after all, so no matter how much trouble it made, under the suppression of the imperial power, it barely caused too much consequences.

But once the precedent of killing literati was set, the literati would explode.

After all, everyone hopes that they will not be liquidated after being corrupt and doing bad things. Even if they are just demoted, it is better than being killed.

So once the two literati Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu were killed, it would inevitably cause serious consequences.

Han Zong thought that he could encourage all the literati to unite and put pressure on Zhao Zhen. Even if he could not force the emperor to withdraw the Imperial City Bureau immediately, he should let the Imperial City Bureau hand over the people to the Dali Temple for trial. As long as the Dali Temple took the case, officials would protect each other, and everything would be fine.

But what Han Zong did not expect was that Han Yi glared at him fiercely and said, "Stupid, the emperor hates those who form cliques and pursue personal interests the most. If all the officials in the court oppose it together, do you know what the consequences will be?"

Han Zong said stubbornly, "The law does not punish the masses. No matter what, this is about the life and death of the literati in the world. I don't believe that everyone will put life and death aside?"

"Okay, you do what I say first, test the emperor first, and never do this."

Han Yi is still rational.

The reason why the literati in the Song Dynasty can be treated preferentially is because the literati are not united, so the emperor is willing to treat them preferentially in exchange for their internal fighting to consolidate the imperial power.

If all the scholars and officials unite, the emperor will probably feel terrified. Once he feels that the imperial power is threatened, even the best people will raise their butcher knives.

After all, the position of the emperor is the emperor, and the emperor's position is the concern of the regime. Han Zong couldn't figure it out, and Han Yi, as the deputy prime minister, must understand this.

Therefore, whether it is the three prime ministers and three officials, or the three officials, the Privy Council and other senior officials, they rarely form alliances, and they are all in twos and threes. More than 20 or 30 senior officials form seven or eight gangs to be hostile to each other, which can make the emperor feel at ease.

Now, if it is really according to what Han Zong said, even if the emperor does not want to attack the Han family, he will have to attack the Han family. In the last resort, Han Yi does not want to take this risky move, so he will never agree to Han Zong.

"Remember, accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. No matter how kind the emperor is, he is still a tiger. There are some things that you can listen to and watch, but you must never do them. Do you understand?"

Han Yi was a little worried and reminded his son again.

Han Zong said helplessly, "Yes, I know."

"You should come back and live these days."

Han Yi thought for a while, "Even if Zhao Jun is rampant, as long as the emperor doesn't ask, I think he won't come to my house to arrest people."

"Yes."

Han Zong agreed.

The Han family immediately started to work, sending people to contact the students and old officials of the Ma family, as well as the friends of Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu, and let them continue to write letters.

These are relatively conventional methods in the court. In the Song Dynasty, censors were in power, and many senior officials had censors under their tutelage. They relied on these people to attack and bite each other. Later, the Qingli New Deal and Wang Anshi's reforms were all participated by them.

Just when the Han family continued to toss with the old routine, on September 1, the third year of Jingyou, Zhao Jun, who had just arrested the two Ma yesterday, did not rush to interrogate them at this moment, but went to Fan Zhongyan's house.

Zhao Jun stayed at Fan Zhongyan's house until the afternoon before leaving.

By the evening, Fan Zhongyan's mansion was bustling. In the past, when Zhao Jun came, there were not many people in the mansion. Apart from a few hired servants and officials, there were only two old servants brought by the Fan family.

But today, Fan's mansion was decorated with lights and colors, and the sky gradually darkened in the afternoon. One sedan after another stopped outside the Fan mansion, and young officials got off the sedans and entered the mansion.

Old Fan invited guests to dinner. He specially prepared a big table with a hot pot on it, with rabbit meat as the main ingredient, which was called "Boxia Gong" at the time.

Secretary Yu Jing, Prince Zhongyun Yin Zhu, Ministry of Works Langzhong Wu Zunlu, Library Proofreader Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, Longtu Pavilion Direct Scholar Li Hong, Jixian Proofreader Wang Zhi, History Museum Reviewer Wang Zhu, and Zhijianyuan Fu Bi and more than ten other friends came to support the party.

Because Ding Du, the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, was dismissed and demoted and transferred to another prefecture, Zhao Zhen was forced to let Old Fan temporarily stabilize the situation, so everyone thought that today's banquet was to celebrate Fan Zhongyan's reinstatement.

But unexpectedly, when everyone said they were celebrating for him, Fan Zhongyan said that today was not a banquet to celebrate his return to Kaifeng Mansion, which was puzzling.

"Mr. Xiwen, congratulations. This time I brought two bottles of wine to celebrate your reinstatement."

"Today is about other matters, not celebration."

"Really? That's okay. We need to drink anyway, so we can't waste my bottles of old Huadiao."

"Sit down first."

"Mr. Xiwen, look what I brought you."

"Hey, these pieces of cured fish and bacon are good stuff. Brother An Dao, how do you know I like this?"

"That's right. This is my treasure. I would like to congratulate you on returning to Kaifeng Mansion."

"I'm not calling you here today to celebrate, I have other things to do, but let's sit inside first."

Fan Zhongyan greeted everyone.

Everyone is curious about what we are doing today if we are not celebrating?

Suddenly gathering everyone, are you planning to do something big again?

But since Lao Fan didn't say it when welcoming the guests, he naturally suppressed his curiosity first and waited for him to reveal the answer.

Soon everyone arrived one by one, and after the last historian Wang Zhu arrived, the banquet finally started.

It was only then that everyone noticed that there was a thick layer of paper on Fan Zhongyan's seat, which was two or three feet high. No wonder it was placed on the seat.

"Mr. Xiwen, what are these?"

Ouyang Xiu asked curiously: "Could it be your newly published poetry collection? Are you going to share it with me?"

Fan Zhongyan smiled and shook his head and said: "No, I have summoned you all today to do something. I have something to say to you, and I have some questions to ask you."

Everyone looked at each other with puzzled expressions, and Fu Bi asked, "Why are you so solemn and calling us here to talk?"

Fan Zhongyan did not speak immediately, but turned his attention to the papers. He placed the thick stack of papers on the table and said to everyone: "Do you still remember the expert I once talked about? "

"Does this have something to do with that expert?"

Yoon Soo asked.

"Um."

Fan Zhongyan said thoughtfully: "That master once asked me what I hope for."

"Oh? How did Mr. Xiwen answer?"

Everyone became interested.

Fan Zhongyan still didn't answer immediately. After waiting for a few seconds, he had organized the words in his mind.

Then he looked around and said to everyone seriously: "I told him that what I hope is that there will be no more suffering in the world, and that the country will be prosperous and the people will be healthy. I only wish to "worry about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness." If not, To be a good prime minister, you must also be a good doctor to treat illnesses and save people.”

"Good! What a good sentence: "Be worried about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness"!"

Ouyang Xiu immediately slapped the case and exclaimed: "Such a great ambition is what our generation should have! I will take Duke Xiwen as my guide and hesitantly pursue this great wish throughout my life. No matter how difficult it is, I will not change my mind!" "

"I'm very happy that Uncle Yong has such a heart."

Fan Zhongyan said solemnly: "The master told me that if you want to fulfill your great wish, you cannot rely on me or him."

"Who should we rely on?"

"us!"

"us?"

Everyone was quite surprised.

"good."

Fan Zhongyan pointed at the crowd and said: "We need a group of like-minded partners who have the same ambitions and ideals, a spirit of willingness to struggle, and a fighting spirit that is not afraid of sacrifice. So I have called you together today to ask if you have such a Ideal and fighting spirit?”

After he finished speaking, he looked at them with sincere and bright eyes, seriously waiting for their answers.

Zhao Jun's current situation is actually not good.

He thought that after arriving in the Song Dynasty, he had given lectures to give the emperor, including all his ministers, lofty ambitions and ambitions.

In the end, it was discovered that they had not changed their minds at all.

Some of them are just superficial rhetoric. They just want to use the knowledge of Zhao Jun's later generations to improve productivity.

They are decadent and backward, stubborn and conservative, and will not accept the institutional reforms of social progress. They do not want their own interests to be damaged, and they will not accept the reality of the decline of imperial power and the power of scholar-bureaucrats.

They still want to become a mountain that oppresses the people.

According to what the great man said, they are a group of conservative interest groups and they will not want their vested interests to be destroyed.

Therefore, they will do everything possible to obstruct Zhao Jun and prevent the progress of the social system at all costs.

And if you want to bring down this mountain.

Zhao Jun found that relying solely on himself was not enough.

Because the other party is very powerful, they still firmly hold the power of this era, and even want to win over him, assimilate him, and corrupt him.

At least Zhao Jun is now fighting alone. Whether it is Kaifeng Mansion or attacking the Ma family and the Han family, he only compromises time and time again when there is no threat to the imperial power and the scholar-bureaucrat class.

When one day Zhao Jun really wants to revolutionize their lives, everything Zhao Jun has today will turn into ashes.

So he can no longer fight alone.

He needs more companions.

Even these companions do not fully accept the ideas of the New Age.

But just going one step further than the old conservative interest groups is already a huge improvement.

After all, the ideas of the five great teachers are pioneering, outstanding and far-sighted.

If placed in later generations, it would naturally be advanced.

But in the Song Dynasty, if you lead by a hundred years, you are a genius, and if you lead by a thousand years, you are a demon. There is only a thought between genius and madness.

So Zhao Jun couldn't spread the ideas of his mentors immediately. He had to eat one bite at a time and couldn't take too big steps. He could only do it step by step.

Now he is just fighting hard to find his own way under the old social system, master more power, get more social resources, and thus enhance his voice.

But the great mentor once said that a large number of people should be cultivated. These people are the vanguard of the revolution. These people have political foresight. These people are full of fighting spirit and sacrifice spirit. These people are open-minded, loyal, positive, and upright.

These people do not seek personal gain, but only for the liberation of the nation and society. These people are not afraid of difficulties, and they are always firm and brave in the face of difficulties.

These people are not arrogant elements, nor are they limelight seekers, but down-to-earth and practical people. If China has a large group of such pioneers, the task of the Chinese revolution can be solved smoothly.

One day, Zhao Jun will get more things under the old system and create a group of such people. Even if it is only every ten or even twenty years, he can create a group of people who are more progressive in their original ideas. Then the future of China will be full of glory.