In the winter of the ninth year of Hongwu, the History of the Song Dynasty, compiled under the leadership of the Right Prime Minister Zhang Ximeng, finally completed its general content. With the spread of newspapers, the main content of the History of the Song Dynasty continued to spread, and the people gradually saw the true face of this history book.
What followed was fierce discussion, from the court to the people. Even the ministers of Zhongshu Province were dumbfounded and quite surprised when faced with this history book.
"Too, too much!"
This is the unanimous view of many officials from the Ministry of Rites after seeing it.
To say that since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, what has suffered the most is not the Ministry of Households, which manages money, nor the Ministry of Personnel, which manages people, nor the Ministry of War, which manages soldiers, but the Ministry of Rites, which looks harmless to humans and animals and is cute.
It has to be said that high-end suicide attempts often only require the simplest methods.
There are two things that are difficult for the Ministry of Rites to accept. First, in the new history of the Song Dynasty, the emperors of the Song Dynasty are basically critical.
Only Zhao Kuangyin and a few others, as well as some measures such as supporting the reform, actively reorganizing the army, and opening borders to defend against the enemy, were praised. The rest were criticized and there was basically no good evaluation.
Secondly, in the new history of the Song Dynasty, those famous officials in the past, the highly regarded role models of scholars, and famous scholars were also scolded bloody by Zhang Ximeng.
Needless to say, those mentioned above, the Cheng brothers, Zhu Xi, and other figures were also criticized and accused of causing harm to the country and the people, causing endless disasters.
From the emperor to Shilin, it can be said that almost the entire army was wiped out, and no one was spared.
Three hundred years of the Song Dynasty, when it came to Zhang Ximeng, it was completely useless and a complete mess...
Let’s put aside the facts. Isn’t there anything commendable about the three hundred years of the Song Dynasty?
Zhang Ximeng was too cruel.
The Emperor of the Song Dynasty did not have a good person, so where would that put His Majesty? They are all traveling together!
There were not many good officials in the Song Dynasty, so who are we? If the officials lose their dignity, the common people will look down on us and no longer respect the scholar-bureaucrats.
This is a major event that shakes the foundation of the country!
What Mr. Zhang did was really too much.
After all the calculations, it was in his favor, Mr. Zhang.
The Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu was refuted, leaving only the Neo-Confucianism of Zhang and Xiang.
This history of the Song Dynasty is just Zhang Ximeng’s work to canonize himself!
"Li Xianggong, a few days ago, His Majesty just appointed Jiang Nan as the Minister of Commerce. As a daughter, she holds the high position of the Minister. It is really admirable. Now Zhang Xiang is writing the history of the Song Dynasty. On the day when the book is completed, it will clear up the right and wrong of the ages and determine the history of the Qing Dynasty.
Morality, what a literary talent! They are really a divine couple, the best in the world!" Yang Xunwen, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, said in an exaggerated tone, with his face full of admiration.
But to Li Shanchang's ears, it was obvious that this was not what he meant. We, Old Li, have also been a fox for many years, so there is no need to use this little trick with me.
But Li Shanchang found it a bit difficult to accept Jiang Nan's entry into Zhongshu Province.
Just after he and Zhang Ximeng parted ways, the Zhongshu Ministry of Education recommended eight officials to ask Zhu Yuanzhang to select him.
There were several officials with outstanding political achievements here. Li Shanchang thought that Zhu Yuanzhang might hesitate. After all, as the newly established Ministry of Commerce, the responsibilities were very heavy.
If you let a woman be in charge, something might go wrong.
But Li Shanchang was completely wrong. The list was submitted in the afternoon, and was reviewed the next morning and sent directly to the Ministry of Education.
Not surprisingly, Jiang Nan's name was greatly circled.
Lao Zhu also added a special comment: A genius in this world is worthy of a big job!
Good fellow, even before he takes office, the emperor has already commented like this. This Jiang Shangshu is really extraordinary. Your Majesty has given Prime Minister Zhang a lot of respect.
In fact, Li Shanchang also guessed wrong. The reason for this was not Zhang Ximeng's face. After all, no matter how much face he had, he could not compare to Queen Ma.
Jiang Nan's real backer is the Queen.
"Jiang Nan is the key to earning face for us women. She has both political integrity and talent, and is upright. If you dare not use her, I will never end it for you!"
Faced with the threat from Empress Ma, Lao Zhu was so timid that he simply gave Shangshu to Jiang Nan without hesitation.
Lao Zhu also had a plan in mind. Things like business are very complicated and there are many hidden things in them.
The choice of minister must not only have both political integrity and talent, but also must have the least involvement with all parties, be able to be public-minded, and be dedicated to the pursuit of the country.
At this point, Jiang Nan is even more reliable than Zhang Ximeng.
As a female official, she was destined to be unable to collude with others. As Zhang Ximeng's wife, no one dared to form a clique with her for personal gain. After all, Jiang Nan was almost the most aloof and unbridable person in the entire Ming Dynasty.
If a new Ministry of Commerce is established and this person is not allowed to serve as minister, who else will be allowed to serve?
If he were not afraid of irritating the princes of Zhongshu Province, Lao Zhu even planned to give Jiang Nan the title of "Involved in Political Affairs".
But even without this title, just being Zhang Ximeng's wife is scary enough.
In Zhongshu Province, as long as Jiang Nan insisted on doing everything according to the rules and discussing things as they happened, a group of old guys were already overwhelmed and unable to resist.
If you say that your ability to do things is not as good as Jiang Nan's, you will feel ashamed. After all, you can't even compare to a woman, and you are too incompetent.
But if he is much stronger than Jiang Nan, suppressing Jiang Shangshu at every turn is not a good thing. Bullying women is not a hero!
Anyway, I can’t get any good words from the left or the right!
And in fact, if they want to crush Jiang Nan, it is impossible.
Don't forget that as Zhang Ximeng's wife, many government affairs arrangements and the formulation of laws over the years have been considered, for what purpose, and what kind of processes are involved... Jiang Nan knows everything about it, even better than many ministers.
.
In short, Jiang Nan is a transcendent being who cannot be bribed, cannot be offended, cannot be compared in ability, and cannot win in an argument.
She stayed in Zhongshu Province for a day, and no one from Li Shanchang to the ministers felt comfortable.
It seems that the last person that everyone hated collectively was Di Qing!
As an army officer, he relied on his military exploits to get promoted little by little, reaching the high position of Privy Councilor, and became a role model for the world's bastards and the national idol of the Song Dynasty.
And Di Qing's military exploits are quite interesting.
He rose up little by little while fighting Li Yuanhao.
It goes without saying that Li Yuanhao rebelled and established Xixia. During this period, it goes without saying that many famous officials of the Song Dynasty were slapped in the face. Those sage prime ministers and pillars of the country who were famous all over the world suffered bruises and swollen faces, lost troops and generals, and lost a large area of land in the northwest.
You still have to pay the annual coins and settle for peace.
Just when the literati were collectively embarrassed, a warrior with a background in the army, relying on his loyalty, courage and wisdom, fought his way through the darkness and gradually emerged.
In fact, Di Qing is not that disgusting at this moment, and some civil servants are even willing to promote and teach him, seeing him as a good tool man.
But what happens next is troublesome.
Nong Zhigao started a rebellion, and the land south of Lingnan was in ruins and was hopeless.
Several military leaders and civilian officials were as incompetent as they were when dealing with Li Yuanhao, and were beaten into panic and fled.
At this time, the nightmare of being humiliated by Li Yuanhao struck again. In order to avoid the embarrassment of a "Xixia" appearing in Lingnan, he had to pay another yearly coin.
The Song Dynasty could no longer care about the ancestral system of using civil society to control military affairs, so it could only send Di Qing to fight and let the military men lead the army.
But it was this move that played a decisive role.
Di Qing led the troops, successfully pacified Nong Zhigao, and triumphed in victory.
After putting down the Lingnan Rebellion, Di Qing returned to Kaifeng with his military exploits, was promoted to Privy Councilor, and took charge of military affairs.
At this moment, Di Qing inevitably became a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh of all civil servants.
His existence always reminds people of the disgraceful history of some so-called famous officials.
His military exploits also illustrate the absurdity of letting literati lead the army and suppress military men.
He is sitting in the Privy Council. If he really makes great achievements again and destroys Xixia, then the sky will fall, the earth will collapse, and the civilization of scholar-bureaucrats will come to an end.
When things have reached this point, Di Qing must be destroyed.
Because the consequences of destroying Di Qing would be terrible, the Song Dynasty might be over.
But if Di Qing is not destroyed, the consequences will be even worse. The good days of scholar-bureaucrats will be gone.
Choosing the lesser of two evils, I could only watch Di Qing be wiped out.
Then Ouyang Xiu, a layman from the Sixth Day, took action. As the leader of the scholar who went to nine out of ten places, Ouyang Xiu was quite kind and said that Di Qing had no big fault, but that he was not suitable to stay in the position of Privy Councilor.
The absurdity of this matter is almost like an unwarranted rehearsal by Yue Fei.
There is nothing obvious or unnecessary, but they are of the same origin, and how similar they are!
When Zhang Ximeng was compiling the history of the Song Dynasty, the public case about Di Qing was a very important part of his writing. He even put it together with Wen Yanbo's sentence that we share the world with the scholar-bureaucrats, not with the common people.
Zhang Ximeng bluntly said that the scholars of Zhao and Song Dynasties did not want to share the world with the emperor, but they valued themselves more than the world.
For the sake of his own reputation, he fabricated accusations and framed innocent people.
Destroy the Great Wall and destroy famous generals.
Behind this is not stupidity, but selfishness, harm to the country and the people, and ulterior motives...it is to put the scholars above the common people.
The case of Di Qing, together with the turmoil and hatred, is the basis of his argument. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, hundreds of schools of thought have been deposed and Confucianism has been respected only. This path of the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats co-ruling the world has reached an end and cannot be continued.
The reason is that the scholars no longer regard themselves as members of the world and no longer consider the common people of the world. Instead, they place themselves in the supreme position. This is why the Song Dynasty died at the hands of the scholars.
If we continue to indulge the scholars, we will just repeat the tragedy of the Song Dynasty for three hundred years.
Looking at this paragraph, Zhu Biao felt sweaty and trembling all over.
He closed his eyes and thought, among the famous officials and famous figures in the world, none of them could write the annals of history and interpret history like Zhang Ximeng... It made people's hearts feel cold and shuddering!
Although Zhu Biao liked Ouyang Xiu's articles very much and admired his literary talents, at this moment, in his mind, the impression of Ouyang Xiu finally became that of an executioner!
"Sir, you are studying history these days, I'm afraid you don't know it yet! There is a play being performed in Yingtian's teahouse."
"play?"
"Yes, it's a civet cat exchanged for a prince. Sir, would you like to see it?" Zhu Biao stood up with an angry look on his face.
Zhang Ximeng was startled for a moment, then chuckled: "It's okay, I haven't watched a show for a long time, so I just want to relax!"