After breaking up in Luling, Chen Ke never saw the little prince Zhao Zongji again. ("") However... the correspondence was quite frequent.
Although Chen Ke and the others are always traveling, wherever they go, they will definitely receive a letter from him in the post house, asking them in detail about their journey, the customs and interesting things along the way, and it is important for them to travel around. Zhao Zongji is
The body cannot reach it, but the mind longs for it.
Seeing that this boy was really pitiful, Chen Ke and the others were determined to reply. They described to him vividly what they saw, heard, felt, and thought. They often exaggerated unscrupulously and added various legends and myths that were both true and illusory.
I was so envious of Zhao Zongji that I even wanted to leave my house to join them, but I was looked at too harshly, so I had to give up.
"The last time we communicated was before we left Sichuan." Seeing Ouyang Xiu's serious look on his face, Chen Ke didn't dare to hide it, so he told the story: "We also made an appointment to meet in Beijing."
"Don't see him anymore." Ouyang Xiu said flatly: "You, you, from now on, are not allowed to have any contact with him, including secret communication."
"Why?" Of course Chen Ke wanted to ask a reason.
"No reason..." Ouyang Xiu said with a rare stern tone: "If you want to bring trouble to yourself, your father, and your friends, you don't have to listen!"
"What happened to him?" Chen Ke also became nervous: "What crime did he commit?"
"What crime can he commit?" Ouyang Xiu sighed: "But his identity itself is a crime..."
"Teacher, can you not sell it out?" Chen Ke said, dumbfounded: "You want to suffocate me to death?"
"Alas..." Ouyang Xiu knew that Chen Ke would not be obedient if he did not make the seriousness of the problem clear: "Did you know that back then, the official family brought two clan members to the palace, and he and the queen personally
Raise?”
"..." Chen Ke shook his head. How could he, a Sichuan boy, know about such palace secrets?
"There is actually no difference between the royal family and the private family. This move has the meaning of adoption. Emperor Zhenzong made the same move back then, and then the prince... who was born into the current official family, was sent out of the palace again." Ouyang Xiu lowered his voice and said.
: "The official family was already thirty years old at that time, and had been married for sixteen years, but only one eldest son was born, who died young. Then he followed the example of Emperor Zhenzong and selected two children from close relatives to raise; later
When the second son of the emperor was born, he also sent these two children back."
"Originally, people thought that this adoption was just like Emperor Zhenzong's, a small episode in the succession of the throne, but the second son of the emperor died when he was three years old. Later, in the first year of Qingli, the third son of the emperor was born, but
He has never lived past the age of three... As of now, the official family has reached the age of forty-seven, and no more son has been born." Ouyang Xi lamented: "The official family is kind and cherishes blessings, but I don't know why, it is so difficult to have children.
.”
"So," Chen Ke was naturally not as emotional as Ouyang Xiu. He just said suddenly, "Someone is bringing up old things again?"
"Well," Ouyang Xiu nodded and said, "In fact, two years ago, after the thirty-year anniversary of the official's accession to the throne, Dr. Taichang Zhang Shu secretly submitted a letter urging the official to once again select a more progressive eldest son from among the royal family members.
Give him benefits and treatment that are different from others, use some key positions to train him, and let everyone in the world know who you plan to appoint as your successor. This is what a responsible king does!
"
"Seeing no response from the officials, he wrote another letter saying: If the successor is not decided early, if something happens to your holy body, the Song Dynasty will be in danger of collapse. If you don't believe it, let's read the history books. When the emperor died suddenly, there was no early death.
When deciding on a successor, either the empress, empress dowager or even the empress dowager issues an order, or eunuchs and eunuchs take the lead, or treacherous ministers and sycophants take the lead in making an attack, appointing a child of a few months old as emperor, and he can control the political power for a long time, or even directly stand on his own.
!Such examples are common. You are the lord of saints praised by everyone, how can you know the danger and ignore it?"
"Zhang Shu wrote seven times in one year, and each time his words became more serious. In the end, he even directly accused the officials of being greedy for power and lusting for position! The officials were generous and did not blame him, but there was no response. Holy Church"
Ouyang Xiudao: "Last year, Pang Xianggong, who was still in Zhongshu at that time, secretly asked to choose a virtuous person in the clan as the crown prince. His words were very sincere, but nothing happened."
"But the official attitude is actually very clear, because not long after Shangshu, Zhang Shu and Pang Xianggong were released from the capital. For a while, no one in the government or the public dared to touch this bad luck again." Ouyang Xiu sighed:
"But last month, Guan Jia suddenly fell seriously ill. When he was serious, he completely lost consciousness... During those days, everything inside and outside the palace, from top to bottom, turned into a mess. While Guan Jia was awake, several husbands
If you try to persuade him to appoint a successor, the officials may see that he is in trouble, so they will relent... and let them recommend a suitable candidate."
"The princes hurriedly discussed, but in fact there was nothing to discuss. The two children adopted by the official family more than ten years ago have now grown up. They have even gotten married and had children under the auspices of the official family and the queen. So everyone feels that
"It's better to be experienced than to be a stranger, so we jointly submitted a letter to ask the official to choose one of the two. The memorial was written, but I didn't have time to hand it over...Unfortunately, the official's illness recovered."
Chen Ke's eyes widened. He couldn't figure out why Ouyang Xiu knew all about Zhang Shu and Pang Ji's secret letter, as well as the secret conversations between the governors and the emperor. Was it because he was too nosy or the Song Dynasty did not keep it secret?
measure?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sworn princes all lost their words because when the emperor was critically ill, he asked for the establishment of a crown prince. In public, it is the prime minister's duty to protect the country, while in private, he gets a share of support from the new emperor... Don't you see Chen Zhizhong?
, whose qualifications are mediocre, just because he was the first to advocate the first emperor to establish a crown prince, and because of one word, he became noble and enjoyed a lifetime of honor and favor?
However, the emperor is acting like a good person again. If he doesn't open his eyes and submits a letter asking him to appoint the clan's son as the prince, he will only cause trouble for the official family, and even more trouble for himself. Besides, there are many dreams in the night. If the emperor gives birth to another son in the end,
Then this memorial to ask for a son-in-law would be a disaster for himself and his family.
"Although the crown prince had a miscarriage, the official was seriously ill this time and could not ignore the dynasty for a month, so the matter of establishing a crown prince was completely put on the table and became the top priority of the Song Dynasty." Ouyang Xiudao: "Now, the ministers have publicly discussed it.
Regarding this matter, gambling houses in the capital even started gambling to see who could be the first to pierce this layer of paper."
"What a spirit of entertainment..." Chen Ke took a breath and said.
"For the common people, this is indeed a talk after dinner," Ouyang Xiuding looked at Chen Ke and said: "But for everyone involved, it is a matter of honor, disgrace, misfortune, wealth and life. The water in the capital city is too muddy, and there are whirlpools and undercurrents.
There are too many, and a small character like you will be shattered into pieces if you don’t do it well. So you have to stay away from it, do you understand?"
"Understood." Chen Ke nodded, and after a while, he asked: "In my opinion, teacher, if that day comes, does Zongji have a chance of winning?"
"How is it possible?" Ouyang Xiu shook his head resolutely and said: "Firstly, Zhao Zongshi is two years older than him; secondly, Zhao Zongshi is known throughout the capital as 'the most virtuous person in the clan', and Zongji's reputation is not bad either.
But these two years...sigh." He sighed and said, "It's really disappointing."
"Then what's there to worry about?" Chen Ke spread his hands and said, "It's not like he can become the prince..."
"But Zhao Zongshi doesn't think so. If a prince is not born, Zong Ji will be his only competitor; and more importantly, the official family will definitely not be happy if you come into contact with either of them," Ouyang Xiu said lightly: "You
You are already in the emperor's heart, don't let the officials think you have second thoughts."
"Oh..." Chen Ke responded casually, but he didn't care in his heart. What kind of thing is Jane in the emperor's heart? Can it be eaten? I don't intend to be the prime minister, why should I act like a little maid to cater to the emperor?
of joy and anger?
"Don't be sad. The official family is in its prime, and maybe a dragon will be born in two years." Ouyang Xiu is a kind-hearted elder, and he said with his own heart: "When the time comes, you will come and go again,
It doesn’t matter.”
"Oh..." Chen Ke responded absently, then remembered what he was doing here, so he changed the subject and said, "Teacher, I read the Di newspaper."
"Um?"
"About the dispute over the Liuta River."
"Well..." Ouyang Xiu's expression dimmed suddenly, and he laughed self-deprecatingly: "Your teacher, I have become a joke again this time." He sighed and said, "But it doesn't matter if I become a joke. I am watching the disaster happen.
The inevitable is the most painful thing."
As soon as Ouyang Xiu returned to the capital, he tried his best to flip Prime Minister Chen Zhizhong to the ground, once again proving the extraordinary strength of the Song Dynasty's No. 1 fighter. However, in the next battle,
However, he suffered a critical defeat...that was the battle of Liuta River.
The so-called "Six Pagoda River" is a water conservancy project whose purpose is to solve the Yellow River floods that plagued the Song Dynasty for almost eight years.
Although the Yellow River floods every year, eight years ago, the Yellow River changed its course once in a thousand years. The huge flood almost submerged the city of Bianjing. Millions of displaced victims and astronomical losses all made the rule of the Song Dynasty difficult.
Therefore, we have no choice but to treat pornography as a top priority for the country.
But even if ordinary people build a house, they must have a plan before starting work. What's more, it is a water conservancy project related to the national economy and people's livelihood? So various plans were released...