The official ship is stationed at Xiangyang Wharf. As a famous city with a long history and abundant resources and people, Xiangyang has been undoubtedly the first city in western Beijing since its establishment.
The Jingxiang Plain is rich in fish and rice. During the long period of peace, it has played a glorious ode to farming civilization with the most advanced and developed productivity of the current era. Although in recent decades, due to the further development and rise of the Lianghu Plain,
, Xiangyang’s status in the Central and South China region has been greatly affected.
However, due to its status as a land and water transportation hub in Zhongnan, it also plays an important role in transporting finance and tax from the Huguang area and part of Sichuan and Shu areas to the capital, further promoting the prosperity of Xiangyang.
By the sixth year of Zhengtong, the Han Empire had been established for a hundred years. The size of Xiangyang City had only doubled compared to a hundred years ago, but the direct radiation range of Xiangyang had expanded more than five times. Just look at the city walls of Xiangyang and the Han River.
You can see the row upon row of houses and buildings, as well as the flat and accessible streets of varying widths.
After arriving here and temporarily docking for supplies, Fan Zhongyan originally wanted to get off the ship, experience the prosperity and prosperity of Xiangyang City, and relieve his worries. However, this idea quickly came to nothing.
When the servant presented a stack of greeting invitations to Fan Zhongyan, he "flinched". Hundreds of famous invitations were presented at one time. The origins of the invitations were extraordinary. They were all high-ranking officials of Jingxi Road, ranging from Taoist officials to senior officials.
, to the governor of the state (due to the difference in promotion paths, in the Orthodox period, the post of governor still existed in the Han Dynasty, but the number of "prefects" was much smaller than that of the imperial officials), none of them were simple.
They are waiting at the shore, preparing a banquet, catching up with the wind and washing away the dust. While showing their friendship as landlords, they also ask Mr. Fan to give some guidance on the political affairs of Daozhou in the west of Beijing.
Fan Zhongyan's route to the north cannot be hidden from the eyes of interested people, and in the current Han Dynasty, from the center to the local government, there are more than hundreds of eyes paying attention to Fan Zhongyan.
The reason why this powerful bureaucrat is so attentive and respectful is naturally because of his return to the capital this time. The wind blowing from the center of the empire has spread throughout the north and south as time goes by. Although it has not yet been completely determined,
But the possibility of a bounced vote is not high. After all, the political principles and rules established by the imperial court over decades or hundreds of years are not so easy to break.
While flipping through the greeting cards, Fan Zhongyan's expression gradually became serious, and finally he sighed with regret, put away the greeting cards one by one, asked the servants to disembark, and handed them back to the officials in western Beijing.
Of course, there had to be a speech, probably to express that Fan was leaving his post and was unable to stay long due to the imperial edict. He was very grateful to the ministers in the west of Beijing for their kindness, but it was really inconvenient to meet and give guidance, so he asked for your forgiveness.
Not only the ordinary Taoist officials, but also Wang Deji and Fan Zhongyan, the envoys of Jingxi Road, had no intention of meeting. Wang Deji was not a mortal, he was the only son-in-law of Cao Wumu Gong (Cao Wei).
The Cao family of the Han Dynasty, through the development of the two generations of Cao Bin and Cao Wei, has come from behind to become a member of the empire's top noble circle. Especially seven or eight years ago, after the Yang family fell into a period of decline, the Cao family's status slowly declined.
It slowly became apparent.
And this is symbolized by the fact that Cao's daughter was admitted to the East Palace and became the emperor's concubine. This was Emperor Sejong's carefully selected match for Liu Weizhen from among the nobles of various families. It must be said that for Liu Weizhen, the concubine,
Sun was able to succeed to the throne smoothly, and Emperor Sejong did a lot of things overtly and covertly, in all aspects, both good and bad.
When Liu Weizhen succeeded to the throne, the Cao family was successfully promoted to the queen. There was Queen Cao in the palace, and there were a large number of Cao family relatives and old tribes outside the palace. Even though they were not as powerful as the Yang family, the Cao family became the first noble in the empire.
But there is no doubt about it.
As the sons-in-law of the Cao family, both Wang Deji and Fan Zhongyan declined to meet, but there was one person who he made a special explanation for and asked his servants to convey secretly.
Not daring to stay longer, he quickly set off for the north voyage, which was quite similar to "escape". Standing on the side of the ship, Fan Zhongyan could only lean on the railing and secretly observe the scenery along the Han River in Xiangyang.
As we walked further and further away, people and scenery slowly disappeared from sight. Thinking about this, Fan Zhongyan couldn't help but laugh at himself. He thought that Fan Xiwen had been upright, honest and loyal throughout his life, but in Xiangyang, he was too frightened to get off the boat.
I still can’t escape the word “fame and fortune”.
The Han River originates from the Qinling Mountains, collects many tributaries, passes through the west of Beijing, and flows into the Yangtze River from Hubei. Its northward journey is also a process of tracing its source. It travels for more than 20 miles, and when it turns towards Nanyang, it stops at the Guanghua Town Wharf to rest.
In Guanghua Town, a world-famous literary giant was waiting here as agreed, Ouyang Xiu, who was then the magistrate of Fangzhou.
Ouyang Xiu was forty and one-year-old. As a bureaucrat, he was still young. As a civil servant, he was already famous all over the world. The orthodox era was not only the spring of literati, but also an era of remonstrance to ministers, such as Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, Yu
Ministers such as Jing and Yin Zhu were all known for their outspokenness and courage to remonstrate, especially Ouyang Xiu and Cai Xiang.
Ouyang Xiu, in particular, was successively promoted by famous ministers such as Yan Shu, Cai Qi, Du Yan, etc. He was able to obtain the aura that students all over the world longed for but could not achieve easily.
As early as the time of Sejong, the young and vigorous Ouyang Xiu had attracted attention for his "Taishan Ode". It was a magnificent article. While knowledgeable people praised his literary talent and penmanship, they were also more concerned about Ouyang Xiu's conferment on Emperor Sejong.
Some cryptic comments about this person, he is so courageous, and he really dares to say
At that time, Ouyang Xiu, who was still studying at the University of Political Science and Law, was "lucky" to be on the key observation list of the Imperial City Department, and thus entered Emperor Sejong's field of vision. In other words, Emperor Sejong did not care about it, and later inspected the university hall.
, I summoned him specially, and then I was truly safe.
After entering the orthodox period, Ouyang Xiu once reached the rank of cabinet bachelor, knew how to make imperial edicts, and stayed at the center of the imperial court for a long time. Regardless of politics or literature, he is very reminiscent of a person, Kaibao, a famous minister of Yongxi.
:Wang Yucheng.
Loyalty and courage to admonish are their common characteristics. In terms of poetry, Ouyang Xiu continued the legacy of Wang Liu (Wang Yucheng and Liu Kai) and carried it forward in depth. By the age of 40, he officially became the leader of the Han Empire in the poetry innovation movement.
leader, and once again launched an "ancient prose movement" in the imperial literary world.
Ouyang Xiu was very contemptuous and dissatisfied with the tawdry and gaudy Xikun School, just like he couldn't stand the king's missteps and the corruption of the powerful. Of course, in terms of personality, he was not as strong as Wang Yucheng, which also contributed to his reputation.
Even so, it was a common thing for Ouyang Xiu to be demoted for admonishing. The former was demoted to Fangzhou, almost at the same time as Fan Zhongyan, just because he went to the court at that time to speak for him, and alluded to the minister's order to Li Zhaoxian for personal reasons.
Abolition of public service will lead to party strife.
It was no surprise that he was demoted as a result. There were many people who spoke for Fan Zhongyan at that time, but Ouyang Xiu's words were the sharpest and he went straight to the "core."
This time, after the news of Fan Zhongyan's return to Beijing spread, Ouyang Xiu started to think about it. After several hesitations, he finally took the risk of leaving his post without authorization and came to Xiangyang, hoping to meet Fan Zhongyan.
After the two met, they didn't say much. Fan Zhongyan first expressed his position that he was burdened by the influence of reputation. If it were anyone else, he would never dare to have a private meeting, but Uncle Ouyang Yong was worth it. He also believed that Ouyang Xiu had no intention of flattering him.
Thinking of Ouyang Xiu's great talent in poetry and prose, Fan Zhongyan was so excited that he took the initiative to ask about new works. In response, Ouyang Xiu said with admiration that Fan Gong's "Yueyang Tower" was famous all over the world. In front of this magnificent article, he did not dare to write.
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While he was in Hubei, his friend Teng Zongliang, who was in the same department, was very effective in governing Yuezhou. The government was harmonious and the officials and the people praised him. When Fan Zhongyan heard about it, he went to inspect it in person. After climbing up the building to take in the magnificent scenery, he still wrote an article with some differences, but the core theme remained the same.
"The Story of Yueyang Tower".
As soon as this article came out, it attracted the attention of the world. Not only was the world's scholars greatly inspired and excited, but also many people in the government and the public, including people with lofty ideals, kings and ministers, were moved by it. The emperor summoned him to return to the capital, which is not without the contribution of this article.
.
Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu only talked for a quarter of an hour, and Ouyang Xiu's purpose was very clear. He brought a wine jar, and the jar contained not wine, but a bowl of water.
After the drink, Ouyang Xiu said sincerely and solemnly that he knew in his heart that Fan Gong would do something big when he returned to Beijing, and he would also go through some hardships. He felt his ambition, admired his sincerity, and made a special effort for him.
.
After saying this and bowing again, Ouyang Xiu didn't stay any longer. He took an entourage with him, jumped on his horse and whipped his whip, and headed west to Fangzhou.
Obviously, cultivators such as Ouyang also placed a lot of expectations on Fan Zhongyan's trip, and among the people in the country, no one has such expectations. This makes Fan Zhongyan feel very heavy.
