Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Lu Ci didn't pay too much attention to the ups and downs in the court that Wang Zeng's words implied.

Not because of unbelief, but precisely because of too much faith.

What Lu Ci knew well was that the situation of the melee between the North Korean and Chinese bandits Wang Ding and Ding San faction had long been clear, and there would always be a day when the winner would be decided.

The decisive event will happen at any time, and once it happens, it will definitely cause an uproar in the court.

As a mere crown prince Zuo Yude, Lu Ci was quite self-aware and lived a very peaceful life.

After the morning court, the daytime is mainly painting and lecturing, and at night after preparing lessons, I just chat with my friends.

Even Xiumu Lili only visited the scenery and drank tea with Liu Zhuyan and others in the capital, and he never even went out of the city gate, so as not to be impeached for the crime of 'removing officials without authorization'.

At the end of the first year of Tianxi, a very absurd case suddenly occurred in Beijing.

Those were two officers who inspected the imperial city. When they were found to be staying overnight at the Changchun Gate, they used steel knives to pry open the wall of the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace guarded by them. ', as well as various 'magical instruments' and gold, silver and jewels, were stolen together.

When this matter came out, there were different opinions in the market, including admiration for the thief and curiosity about the 'Book of Heaven'.

Some people who have always been skeptical about the heavenly book can't help but think, if it is really a heavenly book, there must be something magical about it, how could it be easily stolen by thieves?And if the thief is like this, isn't he afraid of retribution?

After the officials heard about it, even though the enthusiasm for making gods had dropped a lot, they were still furious.

Thanks to the fact that the two little thieves had too many loopholes, within a few days, the truth was found out, and the two were arrested and brought to justice.

Within a few days, the principal culprit was sentenced to have his hands cut off, then displayed to the public for three days as a warning, and finally executed.Those who were demoted or fined copper also included a group of imperial officials and generals who were not well supervised.

Because the case was solved quickly and the punishment method was extremely brutal, those people who also had sneaky thoughts about the precious objects placed in the palace temple completely lost their courage.

If you are a devout believer, you will definitely not steal the "Book of Heaven" just to hold it in your hand to find out the "blasphemy".

As for money-hungry thieves, even those who are a little clear-headed will not make it up—not to mention that the process of stealing is extremely difficult, but after they are stolen, with this batch of treasures with official seals, And how can we avoid the net and sell the stolen goods safely?

With that ability, it's better to bully and bully those rich and wealthy businessmen in the city.

Although the friends only listened to it as an anecdote, it was over with a smile.

When Lu Ci heard this, he couldn't help frowning.

——He vaguely felt that this matter would have aftermath.

Sure enough, just after the first year of Tianxi, at the end of January of the second year of Tianxi, the imperial medicine envoy Zhu Neng and Dianzhi Liu Yi, who used the Yongxing army to patrol and preside over the affairs of the Taoist temple in Zhongnanshan, went to the court happily Zuo claimed that in Qianyou Mountain, there was a "Book from Heaven".

As soon as this performance came out, the three factions in the DPRK and China immediately had completely different reactions: one was Kou Zhun who criticized it fiercely, the other was Wang Qinruo who advocated it, and the other was Ding Wei who stood by and did not comment.

The emperor who made the final decision was quite vague.

Without hesitation, he issued an edict ordering Zhu Neng to send the 'Book of Heaven' to Beijing, but his expression was very indifferent, and he didn't even mention building a temple to enshrine this book.

Naturally, the three factions were not satisfied with this result.

But compared to Kou Zhun, who hated the scriptures, especially after Wang Qinruo returned to Beijing, he was always on guard against him making a comeback, Wang Qinruo had to be more patient, and could calmly stare at Kou Zhun smiled back.

When most people in the court were distracted by the rivalry between the two, Lu Ci focused on Ding Wei, who looked normal.

After directly defeating Zhou Huaizheng who failed to frame him, Rao Lu Ci believed that Zhou Huaizheng had no chance of recovery, but he never let go of his wariness about his surroundings.

A centipede is dead but not stiff. Zhou Huaizheng has been in power for so many years, how can he not have a few loyal party members?

Then, Lu Ci recently discovered that those who loyally followed Zhou Huaizheng—

Not really.

He has neither a solid background nor a family descendant. Although his power flourished for a while, it was completely based on the emperor's favor.

Therefore, it is only a word of the emperor to completely decline.

Moreover, he has always been domineering in his affairs in the palace, and most of the villains who gather around him are admirers of his power. Now that the trees are falling and the monkeys are scattered, they think that they are kind enough if they don't go to add trouble.

However, with the secret cooperation of Kou Zhun, Lu Ci carefully investigated the people who had been close friends with Zhou Huaizheng, and even memorized the compiled list.

Zhu Neng was impressively listed.

However, in Lu Ci's mind, what kind of intentions Zhu Neng had was already secondary.

Just because it wants to arouse the officials who have finally stopped praying to God and worshiping Buddha, and let the vigorous "Book of Heaven" farce make a comeback, it is intolerable anyway.

Seeing the emperor's ambiguous posture, the court fell into frenzy for a while.

Among the Qingliu Party who hated this deeply, the one who jumped the highest and scolded the most was not Kou Zhun, but Sun Xie.

The lecturer of the prince has always held an attitude of opposing the Tianshu to the end, and this time is no exception. He furiously accused Chen Zhuneng of being a "treacherous villain" in the above mentioned auspicious words, and asked the emperor to kill Zhu Neng immediately. To serve as a warning to others.

Zhao Heng didn't listen.

Although Lu Ci admired Sun Shi's arrogance, he couldn't laugh or cry at the wording of his letter.

There is the phrase "the sky is silent, but there are books in peace", even if the officials want to hear it, it is absolutely impossible to follow it.

If you do this, wouldn't you prove the truth of "there is no heavenly book in this world" with your own hands?

The official family spent a lot of manpower and financial resources in the past ten years, and made the whole country follow the madman's "Book from Heaven", isn't it the biggest laughing stock?

If you don't have any adverse effects, it's already good.

The officials didn't listen to their persuasion, and Sun Shi didn't stop, but handed them up one by one every day.

Even if they scolded Zhu Neng as a traitor who pretended to be a ghost, but for Zhao Heng, who was already guilty, it was absolutely appropriate to apply it to himself.

In the end, he got really impatient, so he promoted the tough-tempered old man Sun, who was very respectable among scholars, to a higher level, but transferred him far away to serve as the magistrate of Yanzhou, and directly appointed a flood control officer. Ministry.

In case Sun Shi is too idle and can continue to write books when he is far away, it is better to let him deal with the eternal problem of managing the Yellow River.

But in the eyes of the ministers who are still on the sidelines, this move is tantamount to a rising and falling.

Now that Sun Xi, who held an opposing opinion, was out of luck, and the elder was transferred out of Beijing, not to mention, he had to do the dirty work of water control, even the most difficult to achieve good results, and the thankless Yellow River...

Overnight, the number of people with the same standpoint as Wang Qinruo suddenly increased.

The emperor's vacillating mind seemed to be gradually leaning towards Wang Qinruo's school.

However, for the proud Qingliu, being forced to leave Beijing because of opposing traitors, even if it hurts his official career, is nothing more than an honor.

So the second person who tried the "law" with his own body appeared on the third day after Sun Xi left Beijing-Wang Zeng, who had been basically neutral between Kou Zhun and Ding Wei, and only talked about the facts, stood up without hesitation. out.

As early as when Zhao Heng tried to toss the heavenly scriptures for the first time, Wang Zeng had listed the five major harms as advice.Now that he has been struggling in the officialdom for so many years, his swearing words and long stories are naturally more ruthless.

Lu Ci listened, and immediately heard some mystery from the impassionedness, and couldn't help smiling.

Different from Sun Shi's honesty and heartfelt accusations against Emperor Huai, Wang Zeng is obviously much more tactful.

In the excerpts, he only scolded Zhu Neng, the host, from the beginning to the end, but did not make a real judgment on whether the "Book of Heaven" was true or not.

For the emperor, there are only regrettable words such as 'benevolent in mind' and 'beguiled by flattery'.

No matter how the official sounds, it is undoubtedly much more comfortable than listening to Sun Shi's "admonishment" that slaps every sentence in the face.

Seeing that the officials who had already leaned towards Kou Zhun Wang Zeng were about to draw this quarrelsome farce to a conclusion, when the real day came, they suddenly changed their minds completely.

So Wang Zeng was dismissed from his post as a political adviser, and became the minister of the Ministry of Rites and the governor of the capital.

Instead, none other than Wang Qinruo.

When Kou Zhun heard the result, his face darkened on the spot.

As the person who was demoted, Wang Zeng had already expected this, and bowed to thank him gracefully.

Kou Zhizhi could barely last until the morning court was over, then he swept the sleeves of his robe vigorously, and left the hall without looking back.

What was left behind was the slightly guilty emperor, but his face was extremely ugly because of Kou Zhun's rebelliousness.

When he saw the emperor snorted angrily and walked away with a seemingly humble smile on his face, but his eyes were filled with the relieved new political adviser, Wang Qinruo couldn't help but raised the corners of his mouth and spoke with Lin Wait for someone to go.

After all, Lin Te is in charge of the province. If His Majesty intends to build a palace to enshrine the Book of Heaven, Lin Te's report will be indispensable.

With such a major incident in the court, Lu Ci was still able to concentrate on lecturing to the prince, but Zhao Zhen's mind was wandering instead.

After the class was over, Zhao Zhen sighed worriedly, and said old-fashionedly: "Zuo Yude, what should I do!"

Although Lu Ci knew that he had a considerate and gentle personality at such a young age, he didn't want him to worry about the country and the people at such a young age.

He resisted the urge to touch the other party's head full of 'frustration' at the moment, and told the story with a smile: "I don't know if His Royal Highness knows how some hunters among the people captured wild boars alive?"

Although he has never seen it with his own eyes, it is impossible for Zhao Zhen, who has read a lot of poetry and books, to know how ferocious he is to wild boars.

Because Lu Ci's voice was nice and his tone was very gentle, he couldn't bear to disappoint his favorite Zuo Yude, so he forced himself to raise his mind and asked pretendingly curiously, "Didn't you use a sharp weapon to attack each other by setting a trap?"

Lu Ci smiled and said: "When I was the magistrate of Fenzhou, I met a son, surnamed Di and Mingqing. He is only two years older than His Highness, but he already has the ability to catch wild boars alive."

Zhao Zhen was a little unconvinced when he heard that it was done by someone close to his own age.

He didn't realize that his sense of being competitive was creeping up, and he just tried to be fair: "Young Lord, even if you are born with supernatural power, how can you beat a wild boar? I'm afraid it's because of fraudulent rumors in the market, or something else." What the fathers did, should be placed on his head."

Lu Ci explained with a smile: "This is what I saw with my own eyes, so it's absolutely true. The method he used is unique, but he first found out where the wild boars are infested, and then spent ten days digging the ground several feet, laying dry grass and dead branches on it... ..."

It's just that what Lu Ci didn't know was that the original purpose of Di Qing's trap setting was not the story of "Di Qing hunting wild boars" that the prince had heard with gusto.

At first, Di Qing actually wanted to catch a muntjac to make up for Lu Ci, so he dug the trap so deep, just to trap the muntjac who is strong and jumping.

As a result, after so many days of hard work, a rough-skinned and thick-skinned wild boar accidentally passed by was trampled.

While he was extremely heartbroken, he had no choice but to make mistakes.

What comforted Di Qing was that Lu Gongzu also liked this live wild boar that was tied up and delivered to the door in a wooden cart.

Even though he was scolded severely by the other party for this, Di Qing was still very sweet, secretly having fun under the covers for a long time.

The only thing Di Qing didn't know was that Lu Ciliao decided that he would not accept it, so he handed over the money for buying wild boars to the school dormitory, and let the people in the school dormitory spend it on him again.

After telling this not-so-long-not-short story, Lu Ci finally concluded to the fascinated prince: "If you want to hunt a fierce beast, you need to make it exhausted first, and when it is exhausted and unable to hurt people, then you can kill it." In other words, what does His Highness think?"

Zhao Zhen nodded thoughtfully.

The author has something to say: Notes:

The things that appear in this chapter are actually my use of real events that happened in history.

The person who contributed the heavenly scriptures again in history was actually Kou Zhun...

He was dismissed as prime minister at that time, and he was too anxious to go back, so he lost his guarantee at the end of the festival.

I have made changes here, mainly due to Lu Ci's role, the timeline and event lines are all messed up, and there is another reason, that is, I don't want to see Kou Zhun like this.

The following is the specific content:

At the end of the first year of Tianxi (1017), there were two personal officials who inspected the imperial city, and they seemed to have a strange idea.

They were tempted by the "Book of Heaven" and various religious objects, jewels, gold and silver from Yuqing Zhaoying Palace, so they forgot their life and death, determined to "steal treasure".It's hard to imagine what they would do with such things after they stole them, and put them at home in fear; they would sell them, and there would be no market for them—who would dare to buy them?But these two hopeless people want to do such a bold career on the beam.When the two of them stayed overnight at Changchun Gate, they used a steel knife to slowly pry open the wall and entered Yuqing Zhaoying Palace, where they even stole the "Book of Heaven" and other things!But the detectives of the Great Song Dynasty quickly solved the case. The thief had his hands cut off and displayed to the public for three days.

This matter probably inspired a man named Zhu Neng.

Zhu Neng was originally a servant in the family of a regiment training envoy. History called him "vicious and cunning", not a good stubble.At that time, Zhou Huaizheng, the great eunuch of the palace, was working in the inner court. He was trusted by Zhenzong, and many people were fawning on him.Zhu Neng tried his best to bribe Zhou Huaizheng's cronies so that he could meet the great eunuch.In the national atmosphere of "Shinto teaching", Zhu Neng also began to talk about ghosts and weird things. Zhou Huaizheng was tempted by him, so he recommended him to be an official.At that time, Zhenzong was in poor health in his later years, so Zhu Neng served as an imperial medicine envoy and led a governor.

The imperial court ordered to build a Taoist temple in Zhongnanshan, Shaanxi, and Zhu Neng managed it as an inspector of the Yongxing Army.He was also with Liu Yi, a court official. The two of them started to "brainstorm" when they were together. Supplemented by "good and evil", all of these, it seems that outside the imperial court, another deliberative institution with a witchcraft nature has been established.

The location of Zhongnan Mountain is exactly the territory under the jurisdiction of the Yongxing Army and Shanzhou where Kou Zhun was dismissed for the first time.Knowing Kou Zhun's name and being under Kou Zhun's command, Zhu Neng liked his old man very much.

Kou Zhun has been confident all his life and likes people to cling to him, so he just "obeys" Zhu Neng's "strange power and disorderly spirit" behavior, whether he agrees or disagrees, and does not intervene more.But Zhu Neng wanted to take advantage of Kou Zhun's reputation to confirm the truth of the Shinto, so he pulled Kou Zhun into the water with all his strength.

In March of the third year of Tianxi (1019), the imperial court received a memorial from Kou Zhun, saying that a "Book from Heaven" had descended on Qianyou Mountain in the jurisdiction.Looking at the memorial inside and outside the court, they knew that Kou Zhun should not have done it, because Kou Zhun had always opposed "Shinto teaching".But Zhenzong has no doubts.

The Yongxing Army's offering of the "Tianshu" is most likely to be Shen Zhizheng Shi Ding Wei.

Ding Wei understood very well that if Kou Zhun came to present the "Book of Heaven" and Zhenzong re-appointed Kou Zhun, Kou Zhun would be very grateful to me, Ding Wei.However, Kou Zhun "renewed his mind" and changed from disapproving of "Shinto teaching" to "respecting the heavenly scriptures".In addition, Wang Qinruo, as my biggest and most real competitor, introduced his "old enemy" Kou Zhun, which is also the best strategic layout of life.This is called "one stone? Three birds".

If possible, what Ding Wei expects is to be able to be promoted to the next level and worship at the same time as Kou Zhun.

Therefore, the offering of the "Book of Heaven" by the Yongxing army was the result of Zhou Huaizheng persuading Kou Zhun; but the creative figure was Zhu Neng; the one who encouraged Zhenzong may be Ding Wei.

But Kou Shizhi has other plans.On the one hand, he "seeked truth from facts" and tried his best to promote Zhu Neng, saying that the "Book of Heaven" was discovered by Zhu Neng and proposed;As a result, historical records have shown this situation of two existences, either Kou Zhun or Zhu Neng.On the other hand, Kou Zhun also looks forward to returning to the court after serving as a prefect in the local area for many years.Reconcile Ding Nai, Xie manages Yin and Yang, the prime minister of the world, who else but me!Kou Zhun, like all the ministers of the Song Dynasty, had the moral responsibility of "taking the world as his own responsibility", but he also coveted and pursued "fame and position". With the "fame and position", you can do a great job of sages.The ministers of the community not only have to play games with the king, but also with all kinds of "sycophants" and "treacherous ministers" in the court. "Self-righteousness" is the collective character of the ministers of the Song Dynasty, and Kou Zhun is no exception.Therefore, he thought that he could "stretch with flexion", and temporarily use the "Book of Heaven" incident to return to Zhongshu and manage the world.

But Kou Zhun came to present the "Book from Heaven", which was too sensational among scholars.What's more, he fell behind Wang Qinruo and Ding Wei, and suddenly he became the accomplice of the "sycophant" and "treacherous minister" who had been ridiculed for more than ten years!

Knowing Heyang Sunshi, after many unsuccessful letters against "Shinto teaching", he came to write again this time, not afraid of spoiling the scenery, not afraid of bad-mouthing the empire under the great situation of national celebration.He has been a consistent opponent since "Shinto established a religion".In his letter, he directly pointed out that Chen Zhuneng was a "treacherous villain", saying that he was a person who had never had official experience, and suddenly became a magistrate, and began to "speech auspiciousness". Finally, he said:

"Heaven is speechless, but An De has books? Everyone in the world knows what Zhu Neng has done, but His Majesty alone doesn't know how to hear it! Beg to kill Zhu Neng to thank the world."

Zhenzong didn't listen at all.

The "Book of Heaven" came down in March, the "Book of Heaven" was presented in April, and the "Book of Heaven" was welcomed in May. An official envoy, a scholar of the Jixian Palace", this is the beginning of another visit to the prime minister.

("Song Empire 300 Years 7 Zhenzong Zhao Heng")