Fan Zhongyan was fighting against the Censorate, fighting against Han Qi, and fighting with officials all over the world. He fought against the three sides to perform surgery on the Song Dynasty! This was his difficulty and achievement. But unfortunately, he still didn't grasp the key point! In fact, he was not fighting against the three sides, but had four enemies. The most important one, the enemy he never expected was the key to the success or failure of his entire new policy: the emperor!

Where did you put the emperor? This sentence really should bring together the gentlemen of the new policy and line up to ask each other. Because from the perspective of historical progress, they have never thought about this.

Back to Teng Zongliang, Zhang Kang was demoted. This matter is definitely not that simple! Do you remember the mistake that the first general Cao Bin made back then? He used his own money to reward the soldiers. This is a complete death penalty! Do you want the soldiers to remember only yours? Teng and Zhang, they all made this problem! Just a few tens of thousands of guan, you can take it out if you point to an official in Kaifeng City, and it is impossible to have an impact on the great Song Dynasty treasury! Disposing them is a warning to the gentlemen! Unfortunately, Fan Zhongyan and others did not notice it at all. This led to the famous conversation on April 7.

On that day, Emperor Renzong gathered the two governments, two systems, the Censorate, and the Censorate, and said, "Dear friends, they have always formed clans. Do gentlemen also form clans?" On a regular occasion, what does all the ministers say this? To whom? This is not just an ordinary question! First, the emperor sets the character of the people who formed clans - forming clans with small talents. Second, gentlemen, you also formed clans with the "gentlemen" present. So what are you? This is a slap in the face of Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Han Qi, Fu Bi and others in the face! He gave you a face, but you don't want it! I have to make it clear! This is not a subtle hint, nor a kind advice, but a warning and reprimand in public!

Logically speaking, Fan Zhongyan and others should immediately bow their heads and confess their mistakes and honestly admit their mistakes. Because this is what the emperor said, and it also quotes the supreme teaching of Saint Confucius - a gentleman does not form a clique!

But Fan Zhongyan and others didn't! They pushed the emperor back on the spot. Fan Zhongyan personally answered: When I was at the border, I saw brave people forming a party and cowardly people forming a party. Now the same is true in the court. How can a party with kindness be harmful to the country?

On that day, the monarch and ministers dispersed in disagreement. The Jia Chang Dynasty must be very satisfied. The emperor and the gentlemen of the new policy got angry. After the differences, the emperor was actually the one who was taught a lesson! Can you imagine?

The president of the Zhijianyuan, the great talent Ouyang Xiu, returned home and decided to teach the young emperor. So he used his expertise to write a good article that has been known throughout the ages. At the same time, he threw himself and the "gentlemen" onto the cliff. Then he was intoxicated and immortal. What a sad thing...

"I have heard of the sayings of friends since ancient times, but I am fortunate that the king distinguishes the gentleman and villain. Generally speaking, gentlemen and gentlemen regard the same as friends as friends. villains and villains use the same profit as friends..." That's right! That famous "On the Fellowship"! In essence, this is an article that reverses the case. Your Majesty, your central argument is that "a gentleman is not a party", but I just want to refute you! Prove that a gentleman has friends and a friend is useful. All you need to do is to "retreat the false friends of villains and use the true friends of gentlemen" to drive them away except us! Then the world will be peaceful!

We should be able to clearly understand Zhao Zhen’s feelings: It’s right for you to form cliques? If you govern the country, I will drive away everyone else, and you will be fine if you just use you? Well? Then what else do you want me, the emperor? Who is the world? Is it a gentleman who has virtue, and who has virtue, the world? This is what you think of?

A few days after the "On the Fellow Party" was handed over, Ouyang Xiu wrote several memorials one after another. He was the most excited person in the world at that time. He urged the emperor several times a day. He was really worried about the country and the people. Fan Zhongyan, did you do the advice given to you? Hurry up! All the people in the world are stretching their necks and waiting, and they have to put their necks into your house to implement it? Also, you should note: there will definitely be all kinds of villains who jump out to make things difficult and pick things up. You must stand firm and unite with Fan and Fu, don't waver. As time goes by, you will naturally see the results. Everything is fine, Fan and Fu all think of the emperor, you just need to do it. If you don't do it, what do you want to do? Do you want to be a fool and be a fool?

Zhao Zhen's heart further declined, "advance and retreat untrue" wise men, it turns out that this is the case... At the same time, all the ministers of the Song Dynasty were holding quotes in their hands and looking in the mirror. According to Ouyang Dacaizi's "Theory of Fellowship", what are we? A gentleman? Don't be too thick-skinned. If someone doesn't take you to play, don't get too close! A villain? Why do we say we are villain? Each of us is a Jinshi who passed the exam for ten years, and then we have become an official from childhood to adulthood! As a junior, you are just a little harder in your pen, and you are just ruining us like this?

Not to mention them, even the other prime ministers and officials in the two prefectures are like Zhang Dexiang, Du Yan, Yan Shu, Jia Changchao and even Han Qi are gritting their teeth. If they are subdivided into gentlemen, Han Qi, Yin Zhu and others have no share! This situation has been formed: after Ouyang Xiu's passionate efforts, Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi were finally isolated! And the two of them are the actual implementers of the new policy!

As time goes by, the enemies of the new policy are increasing! Later, even the eunuchs from the palace joined. They left a very affordable sentence in the history books. I believe anyone who hears it will be worried: Your Majesty, one person forms a clique, at most, only a dozen people, five or six people form cliques, only seventy or eighty people. Fan Zhongyan, Fu Bi, Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu, Yu Jing, Cai Xiang, and Yin Zhu, how many of them are? What's more, in their new policy, the method for selecting officials is the "recommendation responsibility system". They can blatantly select people and form cliques. Within two or three years, the court will be full of their people!

The situation is bad and the hearts of the people are sinister... Zhao Zhen couldn't help but sigh in his heart. What should I do? This group of people is about to endanger the country, can they still let them do it? Do them immediately! This is a normal reaction. But Zhao Zhen did not. He still calmed down and remembered why he chose these people as officials.

On this side, Zhao Zhen was worried. On the other side, Yelu Zongzhen was also depressed. There were many Dangxiang people in the Liao Kingdom, who had raised several generations of Dangxiang people in the Song Dynasty. They had raised several generations and were considered to be Liao people. Residents were wealth, and Yelu Zongzhen looked for money everywhere, so naturally they took these seriously. Li Yuanhao began to secretly recruit these people back and openly poached the corners of Yelu Zongzhen! On the 23rd, the King of the Southern Court, Yelu Gaoshi, reported that the Dangxiang tribe rebelled in Xixia. On the 25th, Luohannu and Olumu reported again: Qu Lie, the governor of Shanxi tribes, openly rebelled with the five tribes. So on May 1, Yelu Zongzhen sent Luohannu to lead the army to suppress. Unexpectedly, Li Yuanhao openly sent troops to cross the boundary to support the rebel party. He defeated Luohannu, killed Xiao Puda and Zhang Fonu, and then brought the Dangxiang people from the Liao family back to relocate, staged a victory escape in the Western Xia version...

Such a thing has never happened in the 137 years since the founding of the Great Khitan! No matter what the consideration is, there is only one way to go: send troops to kill Li Yuanhao! It is not enough to establish his authority without killing. If you don’t kill, all the surrounding small countries will rise up and rebel!

Sun Fu, Yu Jing and Ouyang Xiu, who are aware of the Censorate, wrote a letter to the emperor and gave an idea. First, it is emphasized that they unanimously support Fan Zhongyan, and all his decisions are right! Shuiluo City must be repaired! But at this point, the border generals are unsuccessful. Let's fight 50 big boards each! Both sides are painful, maybe it won't hurt anymore?

They even thought of the specific methods for the emperor. But they sent someone to tell Di Qing first that Liu Hu had an order to repair the city, and you were too reckless to arrest people. But now that he would let him down, it would be a reduction of your prestige, which is something the court does not want to see. Just let him come forward and let him go. He would violate military orders again in the future, but military law is engaged in military law. On the other hand, he told Liu Hu that if you don’t listen to the general’s order, this is a crime. Thinking that you have made merits in repairing the city and hard work in the border defense, so let Di Qing let you go, go and finish the Shuiluo City, which is considered a redeemable for the sins. As for Yin Zhu, you didn’t mention him at all. This is disguised care, so you just stay out of the matter. Who made you have someone above you have a bad temper? Although you say to Di Qing, every word is said to him!

On the 6th, Emperor Renzong sent Chen Weixin to re-urge the repair of Shuiluo City.

On the 7th, Yelu Zongzhen mobilized domestic troops to prepare to conquer Li Yuanhao.

On the 25th, in order to avoid fighting on both sides, Li Yuanhao took the initiative to claim his vassal to the Song Dynasty as the Lord of Xia.

Time entered the lunar calendar, and summer began. On June 1, the emperor asked five questions to the ministers of the two prefectures: 1 Who should be used to guard the northwest? 2 The people's strength is difficult and the financial resources are not strong. 3 There are still many horses in the army, so how can we be precise? 4 How to control the generals and ministers? 5 It is advisable to fight for the impetuous people?

Looking at these five questions, what should we feel when we imagine that we are Emperor Renzong of Song? The new policy has been implemented for more than half a year, and it has almost no effect at all! What do you gentlemen do for?

Gentlemen dare not be negligent, so they immediately started to answer. As for what they answered? The article is too long, so we will only excerpt one to see what gentlemen are capable of:

Article 2: The people's strength is difficult, and the wealth is not strong. Answer: "I and others discuss it. The country has revolutionized the violence of the princes of the Five Dynasties, seized their authority, and used money to support the soldiers of the world. As time goes by, the taxes are heavy, and the border affairs are rising, and the people's strength is poorer. The agricultural work is getting worse, the water and drought are not prepared, the taxes are not increased, and the number of reductions is over one million." This is already 83 words. What did you say? Summary and explain the whole story clearly. In other words, the emperor asked them questions, and they refined them to let the emperor read them again.

Next, we finally came to the solution. "I am visiting the election of good officials, to ensure the people's safety, to combat floods and droughts, and to harvest the benefits of heaven and earth. We are stricter in order to encourage farmers, so that officials in the world will focus on persuading lessons, and the people are diligent in farming. Over the years, great benefits can be seen. In addition, the goods from mountains and seas are endless, but the country lightly changes its laws and takes deep resources from others. Merchants are not in communication, and money is difficult to use. Now the court needs to discuss and reform the long term, so that the world's wealth will be prosperous and prosperous. We also reduce the troops and make the amount of incoming and out, and then there will be a long-term future for prosperity and strength." 138 words, have you seen any specific methods? Have you seen the specific laws such as "Qingmiao Law", "Equal Transportation Law", "Farmland Water Conservancy Law", and "Exemption Law" that are meaningful? They are all empty words, clichés, and nonsense without any use!

The other four points are basically the same as this, allowing Emperor Renzong to further see the quality of the "gentlemen" in the new policy!

On the 4th, Minister Zubu presented Li Yuanhao's envoy to Yelu Zongzhen, who was stationed in Yong'an Mountain, and asked for troops to help the war. Zongzhen agreed and sent Yelu Gao's family slaves to the Song Dynasty to inform Liao that the Liao general was attacking Xia.

Shuiluo City was built in June and then quickly disappeared into the long river of history. It was of no practical use! And Fan Zhongyan had to continue working for the new policy during this period. The extremely famous dialogue about the Qingli New Policy in history was born at this time:

He waved his pen, brushed his pen, waved his pen, wiped his names on the list of various transferees, erasing his names. Fu Bi next to him couldn't stand it anymore, "Do you know that if you waved your pen, erasing a name, you'll have a family crying." That was ruining the future of a person and a family. Is it easy to climb to a high-ranking official at the level of a governor?

Fan Zhongyan didn't even raise his head, "It's better for a family to cry, it's better for everyone to cry." This is the difference between Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi. Fan Zhongyan got up from the lowest point of his life and felt it was beautiful as long as he had a taste of food. So he was not afraid of losing his official position, and he also used this standard to demand others. Fu Bi was different. He was a standard scholar-official, and he must have dignity and identity, and he must not hurt others' dignity at any time...

These two conversations have been widely circulated in history and are used to beautify Fan Zhongyan's tall image. Unfortunately, they are not as big as they see the small.

On the 15th, the sky thunder thunder in Kaifeng City hit the top of the mountain, and the Kaibao Temple Lingbao Pagoda was burned by the sky fire. This was even more scary than the drought a year ago. Everyone unanimously turned their eyes to the palace: Emperor, you must have committed a crime again, let me be honest! Of course, this is just the cry of the people in the hearts, but the gentlemen of the new policy spoke.

Yu Jing of Zhijianyuan went to the hall, sweating profusely in the hot weather, but he was well dressed and talked to the emperor seriously. The central idea was only 8 words, "Divesty and thrift, cultivate virtue, touching people's hearts." But what was so bad was that he chatted for more than two hours! Renzong listened quietly without saying a word. It was not until Yu Jing left that he said a sentence, "I was killed by a stinky man with sweat! His saliva was sprayed on my face."

In the late month, the most exciting scene has arrived, and I returned to Beijing alone: ​​Xia Shu!
Chapter completed!