One Piece of Song Dynasty

The purpose of Bai Shizhong, Li Bangyan and Cai You joining forces to run against Cai Sui was to "shake the capital" and hoped that Cai Jing would voluntarily resign and give up his position. However, after Cai Sui was ordered to suspend his duties, Cai Jing "still had no intention of leaving." Cai Jing has gained great power after serving as prime minister four times. How can he be willing to hand over power easily?

Song Huizong was also a little dissatisfied with Cai Jing's delay in handing over power. He felt that he could not wait any longer. In April of the seventh year of Xuanhe, Tong Guan had just returned from Yanjing. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty ordered him and Cai You to go to Cai Jing's house and asked Cai Jing to "sign a thank you".

On this day, Tong Guan and Cai You came to the Taishi's residence to explain their intention. Cai Jing quickly prepared wine to entertain them. As soon as the banquet started, Cai Jing cried and said, "Why don't you allow someone in Beijing to slander you in a few years?"

Tong Guan replied: "I don't know."

Cai Jing added: "It's time for me to go to Beijing because I'm old, but I can't bear to beg for my life. The above kindness has not been repaid. I know this."

People around him snickered when they heard that Cai Jinglian's son Cai You also addressed him as "gong".

Cai Jing had no choice but to "teach the generals with chapters".

Tong Guan took Cai Jing's resignation letter back to the palace and handed it to Song Huizong. Song Huizong also ordered his ministers to write three memorials requesting resignation on Cai Jing's behalf, and then "reduced control and obeyed". This was considered formally completed. The process of Cai Jing’s resignation was completed.

Cai Jing only served as prime minister for four short months this time, and finally resigned sadly. But the treatment was still good, and he "became an official according to the former Grand Master and Duke of Lu".

After Cai Jing became an official, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty issued a special edict: "Those who sit down and discuss the Tao in Yan Xian are the affairs of the three ministers; those who work and implement them are the prime minister and assistant prime minister. Now that he is in the position of the three ministers discussing the Tao, he is the prime minister on the affairs of the three provinces. , so that the Prime Minister and Assistant Prime Minister Bishu became a reserve member, but it lost the meaning of the charter. It can be restored in the Shangshu Province, and the order is empty but not removed. The three public officials are only senior officials, let alone the commander-in-chief of the three provinces. If you say that the king is talking about Taoism , the state affairs of latitude and longitude, the three princes are left to their own devices; the three provinces, and the constitution of Yuanfeng, will not be invaded again." Obviously, Song Huizong had this feeling.

On May th, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty issued an edict to the ministers to reward Tong Guan as the king of Guangyang County on the grounds that Tong Guan "conquered Yanshan Prefecture and other prefectures and captured Gaotuoshan and others". The imperial edict said: "I used the power of Heaven to conquer four grammes with my child's sword, expanded the territory of Longyou, crossed the source of the river to the west, raised flags at the five passes, and restored Youshuo. After years of coming and going, I flattened the armies of the two countries, and ordered the commander to make plans. Honors are difficult to stick to the permanent constitution. Gong read the divine test and repeatedly gave instructions, saying that if the general and the army can restore the territory of Yan, then the country's trust reward should be from the title of the king; he should still be a member of the country to show off his achievements. In order to inherit the previous ambitions and take advantage of the neglect and waste, Tong Guan can follow the former Grand Master and be granted the title of Guangyang County Prince, and the actual seal of the city will be implemented in accordance with the regulations."

On June , Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty officially issued an edict, and Tong Guan, the Grand Master and the Duke of Yu State, was granted the title of Prince of Guangyang County in accordance with the former Grand Master, Privy Councilor, and Xuanfu Envoy of Hebei, Hedong, and Shaanxi.

Before that, in the Song Dynasty, "people with different surnames were not relatives, and no one could be crowned king." In the early days of Cai Jing's administration, for the political needs of "upholding the theory of Shaoshu", Cai Jing suggested that Song Huizong confer King Anshi as King of Shu. Later, He Zhizhong was conferred the title of Qinghe County Prince by Song Huizong, but they were all posthumous gifts. Only Tong Guan was granted the title of county king alive, which was unprecedented in the Song Dynasty.

The reason for making Tongguan king was clearly stated in Song Huizong's edict. However, there is a question here. Tong Guan led his army to Yanjing in April of the fifth year of Xuanhe. Why was Tong Guan not crowned king at that time, but two years later? At that time, Song Huizong was in When a ceremony was held outside Jinglong Gate to welcome the Song army's triumphant return, they were very indifferent to Tong Guan, because Yanjing was not recovered by the Song army, but was redeemed by the imperial court from the Jin army.

Despite this, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty still believed that he had established immortal achievements and declared a general amnesty for the world. He ordered Wang Anzhong to build the "Recovery of Yanyun Monument" and stand it in Yanshou Temple as a commemoration. He also promoted officials who participated in the recovery of Yanyun to high positions. The whole country, both at home and abroad, was immersed in the joy of victory.

However, Song Huizong was very dissatisfied with Tong Guan, especially with Tong Guan secretly sending people to Fengsheng Prefecture to invite Jin Bingdong to enter the Pass, and handed over Yanjing to the Jin people. Therefore, soon after, Song Huizong categorically dismissed Tong Guan from his post and ordered him to become an official.

But why, two years later, did Song Huizong suddenly make Tong Guan king with great fanfare on the grounds that he had recovered Yanshan?

The reason is probably that Song Huizong felt that the north was not very safe at this time. The border faced military threats from the Jin people. There was also the hidden danger of Guo Yaoshi and the Changsheng Army in the Yanshan area. Although there were peasant riots in Hebei, Shandong and other places, It has subsided for the time being, but it may resurge at any time. Therefore, Song Huizong urgently needed people like Tong Guan who knew military matters and could shake things up to maintain the security of the north.

Song Huizong originally thought that Tan Zhen was a good material and could replace Tong Guan, but practice proved that Tan Zhen was more than successful and failed. Song Huizong only reused Tong Guan out of desperation.

Tong Guan is seventy-two years old, and most of the veterans of Tong Guan's contemporaries have left the court. Deng Xunwu passed away four years ago, and Zheng Juzhong also passed away two years ago. The younger ministers, such as Bai Shizhong, Li Bangyan, Cai You, Yu Wencuizhong, are all literati and do not understand military affairs. Song Huizong thought about it and felt that no one could replace Tong Guan. If he wanted to guard the northern border and maintain the security of the north, he had to rely on Tong Guan. There was no other way. He hoped to win over Tong Guan with the highest reward of becoming a king, and hoped that Tong Guan would do his best to stabilize the Song Dynasty.

Tong Guan was very happy to be crowned king. This was probably what he had dreamed of for a long time. Of course, this inevitably requires a grand celebration. With the approval of Song Huizong, Tong Guan expanded his mansion a lot and made it more magnificent. It is said that the construction workers at that time also congratulated Tong Guan and asked for rewards. Tong Guan was very generous and rewarded everyone with a golden bowl.

When Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty made Tong Guan king, he also made Cai You the Taibao of the Jin Dynasty and asked Cai You to lead the Privy Council. Taibao, Taishi and Taifu are collectively known as the "Three Lords", all of whom are of the first rank, and they are all titles that express favor. Cai You once served as deputy commander of the Northern Expedition and was a partner with Tong Guan. Song Huizong trusted Cai You very much. He arranged for Cai You to serve as deputy commander in order to supervise Tong Guan. Now, he has made such an arrangement, and its purpose is self-evident.

Cai You worked hard to cultivate his own power. He suggested to Song Huizong that after Yunzhong was recovered in the future, Nie Shan could be sent to Yunzhong to lead troops and guard the border.

Nie Shan was a Jinshi in the third year of Daguan and was recommended by Cai You. Nie Shan originally had a good relationship with Wang Fu, and they both followed Cai Jing together. Later, Wang Fu found his own way and took refuge under Liang Shicheng's family. He took charge of the Northern Expedition and won the favor of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. He then succeeded Cai Jing as prime minister. However, Nie Shan still followed Cai Jing, so he was slandered by Wang Fu, expelled from the capital, and served as the prefect of De'an. Later, Nie Shan was demoted to the deputy envoy of the Chongxin Army and placed in Jizhou because of disputes and lawsuits with his fellow villagers.