Physician of the Song Dynasty: Zhang Kai and Li Qingzhao have a private life-long contract

"Small benevolence but great unkindness!"

Zhao Xu snorted in his heart and was extremely dissatisfied with Sima Guang. His heart was greatly inclined to Wang Anshi. After all, Wang Anshi was bent on reforming the law to become stronger.

However, Fan Zheng sneered and said: "Sima Guang is a little benevolent but a little unkind, while Wang Anshi is a little benevolent but a little unkind."

"What do you mean by this?" Zhao Xu frowned.

Fan Zheng sneered: "The original intention of Wang Anshi's reform was to enrich the country and strengthen the army. He was indeed a benevolent person in the world. However, his reform was extremely stubborn. He ignored the actual situation of the Song Dynasty and insisted on pursuing the reform. Even if it had caused harm, he still did not do anything. Repentance is unkind to ordinary people."

Zhao Xu couldn't help but sigh. Wang Anshi's reform was indeed beneficial to the country, but it aroused national opposition and was indeed not very friendly to the people.

If the two can cooperate sincerely, they will be a match made in heaven. They can correct the deficiencies and revitalize the Song Dynasty.

Both of them have character flaws. Wang Anshi is stubborn and refuses to listen to others' advice. Even if the new law is wrong, he will not change it, while Sima Guangjian is stubborn! He would rather retire to Luoyang than serve as an official in the same dynasty as Wang Anshi.

Forget about the fight between the two, it also led to partisanship between the old and the new parties, making the Song Dynasty miss a good opportunity for revival, which made people sigh.

Zhao Xu had a huge headache. Today seemed to be a battle over posthumous titles, but in fact it was a battle over ideas between the old and the new parties. If one of them failed, the tragedy of Shenzong's past would be repeated.

Fan Zheng solemnly said: "Since the old and new parties are at odds with each other, it is better to give these two lifelong enemies the most fair trial to determine their merits and demerits and end this decades-long battle. "

"The final word is sealed!"

Zhao Xu nodded slightly, knowing that this matter must be cut quickly, otherwise the old and new parties will inevitably fight again.

Meeting on the second day.

"Reporting to the officials, Sima Guang did not respect the officials and abolished the late emperor's new law without authorization, thus making the late emperor's decades of efforts come to nothing."

"Sima Guang will retaliate for the Ayun case. He is really a hypocrite!"

"Sima Guang offered his land to Xixia, ruining the great situation of the Song Dynasty."

........................

Sure enough, the New Party impeached Sima Guangdao again, seized on Sima Guang's pain points, and attacked fiercely.

Yang Wei counterattacked without hesitation: "I reported to the officials that Sima Xianggong abolished the new law. He just followed the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in abolishing tyranny in the later period."

"tyranny?"

Zhao Xu looked at Yang Wei with a cold look.

The new law was a policy that his father, Emperor Shenzong, had painstakingly implemented for sixteen years. This made the situation in the Song Dynasty slightly better, but in Sima Guang's eyes, it turned out to be a harsh rule that harmed the people.

Yang Wei felt guilty, and immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing, and immediately changed the subject and said: "Wang Anshi's reforms are self-willed, and his cruel laws harm the people. The people have been grudges for sixteen years, and they have already reached the point where they have to change."

Zhao Xu took a deep breath, looked around at the tense new and old parties, and showed a hint of playfulness: "Since everyone in the court has their own opinions, I think it's better to judge the merits and demerits of the two gentlemen in public?"

"Evaluate merits and demerits in public!"

The old and new parties were suddenly surprised and looked at Zhao Xu in amazement.

Judging the rights and wrongs of predecessors has always been recorded in history books, but this is the first time to publicly judge in the court, not to mention that now, both prime ministers have a group of loyal supporters in the court.

The officials from the two parties looked at each other, and they couldn't help but feel fierce fighting spirit.

Zhao Xu looked at Su Che who was standing aside and said, "Xiangong Su, you are here to preside over the court meeting to evaluate the merits and demerits of Wang Anshi and Sima Xianggong."

Su Zhe is a centrist. He is responsible for presiding over the final conclusion between the old and new parties, and can be regarded as the most fair and impartial.

"Wei Chen obeys!"

Su Che frowned. These were the two most controversial prime ministers in the Song Dynasty. If they were not careful, they would cause criticism. However, Zhao Xu personally named him, so he had no choice but to accept the order.

Su Che looked around the old and new parties, took a deep breath and said: "Since ancient times, judging a person's merits and demerits usually includes personal integrity, official service, internal and external policies, etc."

The old and new parties nodded slightly, what Su Zhe said was indeed true.

"Take personal ethics as an example, both Wang Anshi and Sima Guang are honest and upright, and they are models of ministers." Su Zhe said seriously.

Officials from the old and new parties nodded one after another. They attacked each other for the sake of officialdom and government. No one could criticize Wang Anshi and Sima Guang in terms of their character.

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "My dear friends, you can speak freely."

Wang Di was the first to come out and said: "I am reporting to the official family. My grandfather Wang Anshi was devoted to the country. In order to revitalize the Song Dynasty, he worked hard and ignored the criticism of the world. He presided over the great cause of reform, enriched the country internally and strengthened the army, suppressed Xixia externally, and recovered several states in Xihe. , worthy of the imperial court, meritorious to the country, and worthy of the posthumous title of Wenzheng!"

"I agree!"

Zhang Dun and other new party ministers seconded the proposal.

Lu Dafang sneered and said: "Wang Anshi is not ashamed of the country, but he is ashamed of the people. As soon as the new law came out, the people complained. With the "Refugee Picture" as evidence, how can Wang Anshi have no fault?"

"There have been doubts about the reforms in the past dynasties. Wang Xianggong's reforms were for the sake of enriching the country and strengthening the people. Although there are objections, they do not harm the great virtue." Cai Bian said firmly.

The New Party and the Old Party continued to quarrel, but generally they believed that Wang Anshi's reforms had good intentions and that his radical reforms caused a certain amount of public dissatisfaction.

Seeing this, Zhao Xu cut through the mess with a sharp knife and said: "In my opinion, Mr. Wang is dedicated to the country. Although he has flaws, he cannot hide his flaws. It is better to score seven points of merit and three points of fault. If the merit is greater than the fault, he deserves to be in the temple of the late emperor, and his posthumous title is 'Wen' '."

"The posthumous title is 'Wen'."

The old and new parties can't help but be confused.

Although the posthumous title 'Wen' is not as top as 'Wen Zheng', it is still a rare good posthumous title. The New Party officials nodded slightly, especially Zhao Xu's affirmation of Wang Anshi by allowing Wang Anshi to enjoy the temple of Shenzong.

"On behalf of my grandfather, I would like to thank the officials for their kindness in pursuing the posthumous title." Wang Di thanked him with tears in his eyes.

The old party officials were also slightly relieved. At least the officials believed that Wang Anshi still had three faults, which broke Wang Anshi's golden body of reform, which was also good news for them.

Moreover, Wang Anshi's posthumous title was "Wen", which was one level lower than Sima Guang's "Wenzheng".

"Please sir, please judge the merits and demerits of Lord Sima." Su Zhe continued.

"Wei Chen believes that Sima Guang is not worthy of the name 'Wenzheng'." Zhang Dun sneered. Wang Anshi's posthumous title was 'Wen', and Sima Guang's posthumous title was 'Wenzheng'. Wouldn't that put the new party at a disadvantage?

The New Party directly exposed Sima Guang's actions bit by bit, especially the Xiandi Xixia and Ayun cases that were repeatedly attacked.

Even the officials of the old party were extremely speechless. They believed that one crime would not be punished twice. Sixteen years had passed since the Ayun case and he had already served his sentence. Why did Sima Guang still want to kill a weak woman?

Upon seeing this, Zhao Xu immediately said: "Sima Xianggong has a noble character and works conscientiously as an official. However, in the first year of Yuanyou's reign, he ignored the great situation of the Song Dynasty, abolished the new law without authorization, and dedicated the land to Xixia. The efforts of the late emperor for more than ten years were in vain. He is also suspected of taking personal revenge on Ayun. Three points of merit and seven points of fault."

"Three points for merit, seven points for passing!" Su Zhe couldn't help but be stunned. He didn't expect that Zhao Xu would judge Sima Guang, a gentleman recognized by both the government and the public, in this way.

"Take away the word 'wen' in his posthumous title and change his posthumous title to 'zheng'! It is a great honor to commemorate his death and leave the monument I gave him back then." Zhao Xu said solemnly.