Northern Song Dynasty Justice

Chapter 260 Political Crisis
Royal Palace.

Yujian Pavilion.

Zhao Xu walked on the path lined with rockery and trickling streams, but his face was not at all relaxed and comfortable when he was on vacation. Instead, his brows were furrowed, and he read in a low voice: "Zhi Zhigao Song Minqiu, Li Dalin, Admonisher Hu Zongyu, Yushi Yang Hui ?”

Having said that, he turned his head to look at the guard beside him, "Are you sure how many of them did it?"

The guard said: "There is absolutely nothing wrong with a humble job. They happened to be in Panlou last night, so they must have heard what Su Zizhan said. Before dawn, they sent their servants to secretly put this handwritten tabloid on the table. In front of major restaurants."

Because Zhao Xu had a bet with Zhang Fei, he specially sent someone to monitor the matter secretly, who would have thought that the tabloid would appear the next day.

This really surprised Zhao Xu.

"Why did they do this?"

Zhao Xu looked very confused.

Hu Zongyu did impeach Wang Anshi, but Song Minqiu and Li Dalin belonged to the moderate faction in the court, and they were obsessed with learning, not the fighting faction.Especially Song Minqiu, who can be said to be a contemporary historian, especially studied Tang history very deeply, and Zhao Xu admired Tang Taizong very much, and often chatted with him about Tang history, knowing him as a person.

He is really a learned man, with tens of thousands of books in his family collection, including many orphan copies, such as Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Su Shi, all went to his house to borrow books to read.

They are unlikely to engage in such intrigue.

The servant at the side suddenly said: "Su asked Song Zhigao who loves articles. Could it be that they are against the prohibition of celebrity newspapers?"

Zhao Xu glanced at the waiter and nodded: "It must be so. It must be so."

Speaking of this, he sighed: "If even they object, sir, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with."

At this moment, Lan Yuanzhen came here suddenly, "Your Majesty, something is wrong."

Zhao Xu asked, "What's the matter?"

Lan Yuanzhen said: "There are more and more tabloids this morning, and hundreds of copies have been circulated."

Zhao Xu was surprised and said, "Can it be found out, who did it?"

Lan Yuanzhen said: "You don't need to look it up, it's those scholars who copied the tabloid spontaneously and distributed it to others, so there are more and more of them."

As he spoke, he said again: "Your Majesty, if this goes on like this, it may have an impact on Bachelor Wang's new law."

He has always supported the new law, not because he agrees with the idea of ​​the new law, but because he doesn't like conservatives, because these people are very strict with eunuchs.

He and Wang Anshi have a common enemy.

Zhao Xu said: "I believe that sir will find a way to solve it."

He really didn't believe in Wang Anshi in this matter, he believed in Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei had already predicted it and had his own solution, so he didn't need to worry about it.

It turned out that this was all because Wang Anshi ordered the Kaifeng Mansion to investigate the matter, which directly caused the scholars in Bianjing to copy the tabloid spontaneously in order to protect those who published the tabloid.

If you are capable, you, Wang Anshi, will arrest us all.

This made Wang Anshi really unexpected.

Before, he thought that this must be manipulated by someone behind the scenes to deal with him.

But now it seems that this is not the case.

The same is true.

No one was behind this matter, it was all spontaneous.

The scholars in the Song Dynasty usually like to discuss current affairs, criticize the prime minister, and criticize the emperor.When Wang Anshi and Han Qi were young, they also commented on this and that every day, because the Song Dynasty was open.

It is forbidden to discuss current affairs, regardless of whether it is in tabloids or not. Scholars feel very sick when they hear this sentence. Even scholars who used to admire Wang Anshi now think that Wang Anshi is a hypocrite.

You used to write various articles on current affairs, and you were appreciated by prime ministers such as Bao Zheng, Ouyang Xiu, Wen Yanbo, etc. Now that you are a prime minister, we are not allowed to publish articles.

Because "Celebrities" only published an article after all, and it was written by Han Qi, and it was also a traditional article. There was nothing wrong with it. Scholars wrote this kind of article when discussing current affairs.

There is no reason for you to ban it.

Even some scholar-bureaucrats who don't care about world affairs and are obsessed with learning are extremely disgusted by this. They also copy Wang Anshi's articles, read them all night, and show them to others. So is this considered a tabloid?

But many vested interests in the DPRK and China are thinking about power issues. You Wang Anshi can ban us from publishing articles today, and you may ban us from speaking tomorrow.

As for the officials who have always opposed Wang Anshi, let alone, seeing Wang Anshi himself delivered to the door, they quickly fanned the flames, got some cumin, and everyone roasted it.

This sudden storm immediately plunged Wang Anshi into a great political crisis.

Wang Anshi was also really troubled.

My heart is full of grievances.

Tabloids used to be dispensable, rare, and you didn’t care, but now you don’t even have them for a month, it’s as if you couldn’t live without tabloids.

Like I did something terribly wrong.

"Teacher, it's impossible to go on like this. We must make a decision quickly, otherwise, the new law will be affected."

Lu Huiqing is in a hurry now.

Because he originally thought, let's use the tabloids to publicize the new law, and by the way, Han Qi, stepping on Han Qi's position, who knows that Wang Anshi directly came to the bottom of the pot, and this was a mess.

This has dealt a great blow to Wang Anshi's reputation.

Because many people think that Wang Anshi banned the tabloids because he was worried that people would use the tabloids to discuss his New Deal. From this we can see that there must be tricks in the New Deal.

You, Wang Anshi, have a guilty conscience!

Wang Anshi frowned and asked, "What can you do?"

There has never been such a case before, and he is a little helpless.

Lu Huiqing said: "Master, hurry up and report to the officials to abolish this ban."

It has already become like this, if it is still enforced, it will only hurt him more, and no one will support him, there is no way to stop it.

Wang Anshi seemed very hesitant. He really regretted it, but he also thought that if he took it back immediately, it would prove that he was wrong.

But he always believed that what he was worried about was definitely not mediocrity, but their short-sightedness and ignorance of the harm.

Seeing Wang Anshi's hesitation, Lu Huiqing knew what he was worried about, so she said, "How about going to Zhang San to find a solution?"

Wang Anshi was stunned for a moment, "Looking for Zhang San?"

Lu Huiqing nodded: "This matter started because of Zhang San. He also used this tabloid to help Xu Zhongtu get justice. It can be seen that he knows this very well. Why don't you ask him."

Wang Anshi couldn't bear it anymore, he hesitated for a while, and then said: "You go and find Zhang San."

"Yes."

Soon, Lu Huiqing found Zhang Fei.

"You brat, do you know how much trouble you have caused me?"

Seeing Zhang Fei, Wang Anshi just blew his beard and stared.

Zhang Fei said with an aggrieved face: "Scholar Wang, where did you say that? If you say prohibition, I will obey immediately. If something goes wrong, you can't blame me."

Wang Anshi said: "If you don't publish tabloids, can this happen?"

Zhang Fei wanted to cry but said without tears: "I was also forced?"

"Who forced you?" Wang Anshi said, "You should have come to me then, and I will help you."

As expected of Wang Anshi, he is so confident in asking for help.Zhang Fei was very clear in his heart, and he didn't bother to argue with him, saying: "The matter has come to this, then... what should we do now?"

Wang Anshi said: "This disaster is caused by you, you have to find a way to solve it."

Zhang Fei murmured softly: "This disaster is obviously caused by you."

"What did you say?" Wang Anshi stared.

"It's nothing."

"What do you think we should do now?" Wang Anshi asked.

Zhang Fei struggled for a while, and said: "I told you, I'm afraid you won't like to hear it, Grand Master Wang."

Wang Anshi said: "No matter how bad your words are, it is not as bad as those people outside."

Zhang Fei said: "I thought it couldn't be done like this."

"Then why didn't you say it earlier." Wang Anshi said with puffy eyes.

"I!"

Zhang Fei almost didn't swear, he hehe twice: "Isn't it all because Grand Master Wang is doing it for me? I, Zhang San, am not such a ignorant person."

"Cough cough!"

Wang Anshi coughed for a while, waved his hands and said, "Don't talk about the past, how to solve this problem now?"

Zhang Fei explained: "Fighting the mouth of the people is worse than Fangchuan. This cannot be banned at all. The reason is very simple. Rare things are more expensive. The more prohibited things are, the more valuable they are, and the more people will take risks." .

For example, illicit salt and alcohol, the imperial court's punishment for this aspect can be sentenced to hanging at most, but some people still take risks.The imperial court is also constantly adjusting its policies in this regard to make it easier for merchants to obtain the right to sell. "

Wang Anshi said: "But the harm of public opinion must be guarded against!"

Zhang Fei said: "The way to control water is to guide it reasonably. If it is guided properly, it will be able to irrigate the crops. The same is true for public opinion. Reasonable guidance of public opinion will be conducive to the stability of the country."

Wang Anshi asked: "How to guide reasonably?"

Zhang Fei said: "As far as Master Wang's new law is concerned, no matter how much you brag about it!"

"Ok?"

"Uh, cough, no matter how earnestly Scholar Wang is, explaining how good the new law is, in the eyes of others, it is self-promotion. No matter how reasonable what Scholar Wang said, some people will question it. But if someone else is saying it, the effect will be It’s completely different. It’s a tabloid, but it can actually be an official newspaper, and an official newspaper with tabloids is actually more convincing.”

"An official newspaper with tabloids?"

Wang Anshi seemed to have realized something.

He used to think that public opinion cannot be controlled by businessmen. Zhang San is a businessman after all, but if the businessman is a member of the country, doesn't that mean it is still controlled by the country?
And it's more effective.

The more I thought about it, the more I regretted it. Why didn't I turn around the corner at that time?

Zhang Fei continued: "Not only that, but only when legal tabloids are allowed to exist, can Bachelor Wang be able to punish those illegal tabloids."

Wang Anshi said anxiously: "Since you know this, why didn't you say it earlier?"

Zhang Fei said: "Even if I said it at the time, Grand Master Wang wouldn't listen. After all, I am also a beneficiary."

Wang Anshi said: "Who said that, didn't I listen to the suggestion you gave me before? Don't you benefit?"

Zhang Fei was speechless.

Wang Anshi glanced at him, "What should we do now?"

Zhang Fei said: "We can only take back this ban."

Wang Anshi sighed: "If I just withdraw this ban, it means I was wrong and they are right. Do you know how much this will affect my New Deal?"

Zhang Fei thought for a moment, and said, "I wonder if Grand Master Wang is willing to lose to Law?"

Wang Anshi was stunned and said, "Losing to the law?"

Zhang Fei said: "Fight a lawsuit."

(End of this chapter)