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

The Song Dynasty attached great importance to the matter of petitioning for impeachment, especially during the Renzong period, most of the officials were Qingliu. If a prime minister is impeached, even if there is no substantial evidence, he will often have to submit a letter asking for his removal, then resign and leave.

This is almost an unwritten rule in the Song Dynasty. There were twenty-three prime ministers in the Renzong Dynasty, and fifteen of them were impeached or resigned from office. This shows that the rules are very strict.

Therefore, Lu Yijian was impeached in public. What he should do at this time was to defend himself and then resign to the emperor to prove his innocence.

But Lu Yijian was a man with a great desire for power. Historically, although he had a debate with Fan Zhongyan, which caused a stir in the government and the public, he did not resign. Instead, he relied on Renzong's blessing to recruit Fan Zhongyan and support him. All his people were demoted.

This act caused his reputation to plummet and he was criticized by both the government and the public, so that later generations regarded him as a traitor.

In fact, Lu Yijian is not bad, but he is too greedy for power.

At this moment, when Zhao Zhen was preparing to promote Fan Zhongyan as the Shaanxi Road Envoy, Fan Zhongyan suddenly impeached the prime minister, which shocked the whole court and even caught Lu Yijian off guard.

He and Zhao Zhen looked at each other and could see the horror and hesitation in each other's eyes.

What should we do now?

Can we continue to appoint Fan Zhongyan as the Shaanxi Road Transport Envoy?

Both of them put a question mark on this matter in their hearts.

Fan Zhongyan had the right to know Kaifeng Mansion, and he was from the fourth rank.

The Shaanxi Road transfer envoy he was going to serve as was a third-grade official, which was a promotion.

And he is not a casual official or a false promotion, but a ministerial official, a high-ranking feudal official.

As a result, before the appointment was made, Fan Zhongyan openly took the lead in impeaching the prime minister.

If he bites the bullet and continues to promote Fan Zhongyan to the position of Shaanxi Road Transport Envoy, will Lu Yijian still do it?

Here, Fan Zhongyan had just impeached Lu Yijian, and the imperial court promoted him to Shaanxi Road Transport Envoy. Not to mention the majesty of Prime Minister Lu Yijian, just saying that this would undoubtedly set a precedent, making people mistakenly believe that impeachment of the prime minister can lead to promotion.

The result is that Lu Yijian will inevitably be attacked by a group of people, and countless impeachments will fly like snowflakes on Zhao Zhen's desk. Lu Yijian will only be able to step down sadly.

In other words, if you want to complete the arrangement of transferring Fan Zhongyan to the northwest as a transit envoy, you must first kill Zhao Zhen's subordinates, or Lu Yijian, who has been with him all the way and is like a master and apprentice. How can Zhao Zhen accept this? Come on?

But if Lu Yijian is not dismissed, then Fan Zhongyan will definitely not be able to go to Shaanxi. At least he must be demoted first as punishment, and then he can find an excuse to transfer him to the northwest later.

What to do?

"His Majesty!"

Lu Yijian's desire for power was so great that he naturally did not want to sit still and wait for death. He immediately counterattacked: "Fan Zhongyan is talking nonsense and talking nonsense. I will never be nepotistic."

Fan Zhongyan said: "Your Majesty, the emperor of the Western Han Dynasty believed in Zhang Yu, which eventually led to Wang Mang's rebellion. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty believed in Li Linfu, so that Anshi would bring disaster to all sides. I am afraid that there are Zhang Yu and Li Linfu in the court today. If your majesty cannot decide the promotion and demotion of court officials, In order, is this court the Prime Minister’s court or His Majesty’s court?”

Heartbreaking words!

Lu Yijian's expression changed greatly, and he quickly retorted: "Since Zhou Gong established hundreds of officials, delineated responsibilities, and divided the affairs of the world. Each of the officials performs their duties, is led by the prime minister, and is loyal to the emperor. The emperor cannot personally experience the affairs of the world, and the prime minister and officials have their own duties. We should share the worries of the emperor. If there is a little ambition, excessive opinions on matters, and the collapse of etiquette, the world will be in chaos."

"The Duke of Zhou established a hundred officials to set the etiquette system. If everyone in the world observes the etiquette, the world will be peaceful. However, if the ministers mess up the government and fail to observe the etiquette system, the ministers must do their duty to the best of their ability, so that your majesty can bring order to the chaos!"

Fan Zhongyan bowed his hands to Zhao Zhen with a very serious expression.

All the officials immediately started talking about it.

Looking at this posture, Lao Fan was planning to fight Lu Yijian desperately.

Only Zhao Zhen could not get off the stage, so he had to say: "Today's court meeting ends here. Lu Yijian and Fan Zhongyan, you each go to the left and right inner halls. Prime Ministers and uncles, you follow me to the back hall."

After saying that, he got up and went to the back hall of Chui Gong Hall.

Fan Zhongyan glanced at Lu Yijian, snorted coldly, and went to the left hall with his sleeves fluffed. Lu Yijian wiped the sweat from his forehead and went to the right hall.

At this moment in the back hall, Yan Shu hurriedly came over and said to Zhao Zhen: "Your Majesty, this morning I talked with Zhao Jun about Fan Zhongyan's restructuring. He said that Fan Zhongyan had a bad temper and openly impeached the prime minister. Only then did I know that "Hundred Officials Picture" "I came over in a hurry, but it was already too late."

Zhao Zhen said anxiously: "What's the use of talking about this now? Fan Zhongyan has already impeached Prime Minister Lu. If we move him to be the envoy of Shaanxi Road, wouldn't it make the world think that I am supporting him? Prime Minister Lu will be impeached by Zha Zi. It’s going to fill up my desk.”

"this"

Yan Shu hesitated for a moment and looked at Wang Zeng and others.

Wang Zeng ignored the matter and turned a blind eye to Yan Shu's eyes.

He and Cai Qi were on the same team, and they couldn't stand Lu Yijian's power over the government. Historically, they had a party dispute in the fourth year of Jingyou's reign, and eventually they fought with Lu Yijian and Song Shou, the deputy prime minister who supported Lu Yijian, and died together, and they all resigned.

Therefore, he would not care if Lu Yijian was in trouble.

As for Wang Sui and Sheng Du, they were almost mediocre officials and basically did nothing. Their power was seized by Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and their supporters Song Shou and Cai Qi, and they could not say anything.

Seeing this scene, Yan Shu became anxious.

In fact, Yan Shu is also a party member of Lu Yijian. He and Lu Yijian have worked together for many years during Liu E's period. They have long had a friendship, and Zhao Zhen was angered before but was not beaten to the end. Now he can come back because of Lu Yijian's help.

Therefore, Yan Shu and Lu Yijian have a very good relationship.

Even "History of the Song Dynasty" records that Yan Shu's son-in-law Fu Bi once angrily cursed "Yan Shu is treacherous and cheats your majesty with Lu Yijian's slips", which shows that the two are also friends.

Now that Lu Yijian was in trouble, Yan Shu had to help.

He was very smart and had a flexible mind. Almost at that moment, he thought of an idea and said to Zhao Zhen, "Guan Jia, I have a way."

Zhao Zhen didn't want to lose Lu Yijian now, so he quickly asked: "What can Uncle Tong do?"

"When in doubt, ask Zhao Jun!"

Yan Shu said.

"Zhao Jun? How do you ask? Are you asking him that I want to promote Fan Zhongyan to the position of Shaanxi Road Transport Envoy, and then he happens to be in the "Hundred Officials", and I don't want Lu Gong to be dismissed?"

Zhao Zhen laughed at himself, this is something that has never happened in history. In that case, what is the difference between Zhao Jun clearly saying that he is in the Song Dynasty now?

Yan Shu said in a deep voice: "I think Zhao Jun's evaluation of Prime Minister Lu is pretty good. Wouldn't it be great if we informed Fan Zhongyan of Zhao Jun's origins and took him to Fan Zhongyan to hear Zhao Jun's evaluation of this matter? What if Zhao Jun If you think Fan Zhongyan is wrong, Fan Zhongyan should be careful to accept it."

Wang Zeng couldn't help but said: "You said before that Zhao Jun thought Fan Zhongyan had a bad temper. Even if Fan Zhongyan can accept Zhao Jun's opinion, he has now been on the "Hundred Officials Picture", can he still take it back?"

Yan Shu said: "I thought that as long as Fan Zhongyan accepted it, he would be demoted first, and then Prime Minister Lu would recommend him as the Shaanxi Road Transport Envoy. If Fan Zhongyan only needs to write a letter saying that he wrongly blamed Prime Minister Lu, wouldn't this mean that Prime Minister Lu appoints people based on their merits, rather than appointing them based on their merits?" Proof of letting others marry you?”

Song Shou also said: "This is indeed the truth. As long as Fan Zhongyan understands that he is wrong and allows him to take back the impeachment, even if he is temporarily demoted and allowed to be promoted by Prime Minister Lu in the future, the world can be blocked. mouth."

Hearing this sentence, Zhao Zhen was overjoyed and said: "My uncle is indeed smart since he was a child. It is passed down to Fan Zhongyan from Lu Yijian."

"Biography of Lu Yijian and Fan Zhongyan."

At that moment, the eunuch Wang Shouzhong went out and called Lu Yijian and Fan Zhongyan, who were in the left and right inner halls, to the back hall.

In the back hall, Zhao Zhen was sitting on the dragon chair, with several people standing below.

Although Fan Zhongyan didn't understand why the emperor wanted him to talk in detail in the inner hall, he was not afraid to continue the confrontation with Lu Yijian. He came in with dignity and saluted: "Your Majesty."

Zhao Zhen looked at him seriously, then suddenly sighed and said, "Mr. Xiwen, you and Prime Minister Lu are both mine, so why bother fighting among ourselves?"

Fan Zhongyan held his head high and said: "I don't want to fight among myself, but I want to criticize the treacherous officials to prevent them from harming the country!"

"Then let me ask you, why is Prime Minister Lu so traitorous?"

Zhao Zhen asked rhetorically.

Fan Zhongyan replied: "Lü Yijian has power over the government and the public and is nepotistic. This is a treacherous minister!"

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and said: "Mr. ?”

"Your Majesty, this is too ridiculous." Fan Zhongyan shook his head firmly and said, "I will never believe it."

"But there is indeed such a person. He was discovered in the back garden of the palace a few days ago. I don't know how he came to the Song Dynasty after a thousand years."

Yan Shu said: "He told me in the morning that Fan Zhongyan was good at everything, but he had a stubborn temper. He had hundreds of official posts, which made him embarrassed and demoted. He also wrote "Lingwu Fu", in which there is a sentence: "Ning Ming died, not "Alive in silence." When I learned about this, I hurried to Chui Gong Hall, but it turned out to be a step too late."

"Lingwu Fu"?

Fan Zhongyan was confused. He naturally didn't know that this was something he wrote after he was demoted to Raozhou next year. However, the sentence "Ning Ming died and lived in silence" was indeed a sentence he could write, which made him Very moving.

"Only I and a few prime ministers knew about this matter before. Did you know that I originally planned to appoint you as the Shaanxi Road Transfer Envoy? It was because that person said that Zhao Yuanhao would soon launch a rebellion. Now Shaanxi Road Transfer Envoy Fan Yong Lack of military knowledge and poor command led to the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Sankawakou. "

Zhao Zhen looked at him and said seriously: "I later sent Xia Song as the Shaanxi Economic Strategy and Comfort Envoy, and Han Qi and you as deputy envoys. As a result, you had a dispute with Han Qi, which led to the defeat of Haoshuichuan. The man said that Han Qi did not understand military affairs and did not understand the situation of the northwest frontier army, so he rashly ordered the soldiers to attack, resulting in a huge defeat. Only you knew the root of the local problem, so you took a defensive stance and defended against Zhao Yuanhao's attack."

"That's why His Majesty prepared to eliminate the disaster before it happened in Xiaoqiang. He appointed you as the Shaanxi Road Transfer Envoy to take charge of the military and civil affairs in the northwest, so that the defeat of Sanchuankou and Haoshuichuan and the subsequent Dingchuan Village never happened."

Lu Yijian added the last sentence, his old face did not waver at all, but his tone was full of reproach.

If Fan Zhongyan hadn't created the Hundred Officials Map, would he be in such a mess?

Fan Zhongyan was silent for a long time and asked: "Your Majesty, I still think this matter is ridiculous and unbelievable. I think this may be someone swindling or an insider sent by the enemy."

Zhao Zhen waved his hands, feeling a little tired, and motioned to Yan Shu: "Tell him everything."

"yes."

Yan Shu then began to tell Fan Zhongyan about Zhao Jun's origins, including all his belongings.