A donkey cart drives slowly on the road from Luoyang to Bianjing.
Sima Guang entered Beijing from Luoyang in a carriage, accompanied by Cheng Yi and Fan Zuyu.
This road was all too familiar to Sima Guang.
He said that he went to Luoyang to study books in order to leave a name for future generations, but he never had the idea of regaining the emperor's favor and returning to power. He also dreamed that the envoy came to his home with an edict, and the emperor was willing to abolish the new law and asked him to come back.
When Sima Guang resigned from the position of deputy privy envoy, some people said that he was just trying to gain fame.
It's not that he doesn't want to be an official and do his best for the world, but he always insists that if the new law is not abolished, he will never conform to the world.
Sima Guang was still working hard in Luoyang, trying his best to complete this masterpiece of Zizhi Tongjian.
However, people in the new party kept slandering Sima Guang, saying that Sima Guang could have completed it long ago, but he delayed writing the Zizhi Tongjian just to get money and materials from the emperor.
But in fact, Sima Guang has not received a penny from the emperor since he went to Luoyang. He used his own salary to write the book. As for Liu Shu, Fan Zuyu, and Guo Lin, they almost brought their own dry food to help Sima Guang complete this historical work.
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Regarding these slanderous words, Fan Zuyu said indignantly that as long as the book Zizhi Tongjian comes out, those jealous and slanderous words will disappear.
Liu Shu said, "The rough ones are easy to break, and the bright ones are easy to stain. This is the case in ancient and modern times."
Sima Guang said nothing.
…
Now Sima Guang left Luoyang and went to Beijing to visit Lu Gongzhu.
After Lu Gongzhu became a Hanlin scholar, he went on an inspection tour because of the great disaster in the Huaihe River. In fact, it was because he repeatedly gave advice to the officials that they were displeased, so they sent him out.
Now Sima Guang came to Beijing to see Lu Gongzhu, and the two of them were in awe when they met.
When Han Jiang and Zhang Yue recommended Lu Gong's work to Beijing, Jia Changheng of the Henan Prefecture heard the news and held a banquet to promote Lu Gong's work.
Everyone at the banquet hoped that Lu Gongzhu's visit to Beijing would revive the country's affairs, but Sima Guang poured cold water on Lu Gongzhu directly.
"It's hard to accomplish anything if you leave the mountain at this time!" Sima Guang said to his old friend unceremoniously.
Sima Guang swept away the atmosphere at the banquet.
Lu Gongzhu reluctantly said: "It is difficult to disobey the holy order. Compared with lying idle, it will be more beneficial to Your Majesty."
Sima Guang said: "I'd rather lie down in peace than follow the villain and lose my reputation."
Lu Gongzhu couldn't bear Sima Guang's accusation against him and said: "What can I do to the world if I just lie around?"
The two of them exchanged words with each other, making everyone confused as to what to do. In the end, Cheng Yi came out to smooth things over and wrote a poem.
"The two dragons are sleeping in Luo Boqing, and they have been traveling in Luo City for a few years. I hope that the two princes will come from the same place and live together for the common people."
This poem resolved the embarrassment between the two.
However, Sima Guang stated his attitude several times afterwards that he would never leave the mountain until the new law was abolished.
This time, Sima Guang and Lu Gongzhu met again, and silently lamented the past to each other. As for the original estrangement, it was long ago not worth mentioning.
As Cheng Yi said, both of them are doing it for state affairs, so why bother making everyone unhappy.
After the two of them took their seats, Lu Gongzhu asked, "What is Junshi doing in Beijing this time?"
Sima Guang said unabashedly: "I advise Mr. Zhang to repeal the new law!"
"This," Lu Gongzhu hesitated for a moment, then said: "It's difficult. Mr. Zhang is in power at a young age and is very energetic. I'm afraid it's hard to listen to what others say."
Sima Guang said: "As far as I know, Zhang Xianggong repeatedly advised the emperor to open up a new path. This is exactly what he did to reform politics. As long as the outspoken words make progress day by day, and the lower levels of sentiment are promoted, the best governance can be achieved within a day. Eliminating the bad practices will happen in a blink of an eye.”
Lv Gongzhi's work on opening up a way for people to speak out was the first priority for Sima Guang, and it was more urgent than abolishing the reform. Zhang Yue also repeatedly advocated that the emperor should open up a way for people to speak out. This is where the political views of the two people coincided.
Sima Guang must have seen the possibility of repealing the new law in Luoyang, so he drove to Beijing to discuss matters with Zhang Yue this time.
Lu Gongzhu asked: "What you said is absolutely true. Can I go with you?"
Sima Guang said: "That's fine."
After talking about Mr. Lu's writing, Sima Guang drove to Zhang Yue's house together.
…
In the Zhang Mansion, Zhang Yue was writing memorials in the study. Since Tianzhang Pavilion gave his advice that day, he had repeatedly suggested to the emperor that he should open up a way to speak out.
The emperor just hesitated and refused to agree, pretending to have lost his memory.
This made Zhang Yue a little unhappy.
However, there is also good news. Li Chengzhi and Wang Lian have all been demoted to distant places, and Huang Lu has ascended to the position of the third envoy.
Since regaining Huangzhou and pacifying the Qingtang Dynasty, Cai Jing and Xiong Ben visited his house three times and expressed his intention to surrender to Zhang Yue. Zhang Yue was also willing to take Xiong Ben into his account.
Zhang Yue remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang once told a story. He took a mace and said to the prince, "Look, there are too many thorns on this mace. If you don't remove the thorns, you can't hold the mace at all."
Lu Huiqing is also a person who understands the essence of it.
After Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister, Lu Huiqing was on guard against this and that, squeezing this and that, suppressing this and suppressing that. Within a year, Feng Jing, Zhang Yue, and Han Jiang successively resigned, and even his benefactor Wang Anshi wanted to create an unfounded crime. , making it impossible for him to return to Beijing.
What does Lu Huiqing want? It is to remove the thorns, hold on to this mace, eliminate dissidents, grasp the "national affairs", and implement Lu's New Deal.
The state is the mace, and the opponents are the thorns in the mace.
If you want to swing the stick, you must first remove the thorn.
Lu Huiqing was a very ambitious person, but his methods were too fierce. He took power for less than a year and forced a prime minister to leave one after another.
Of course some people will say, Zhang Yue, you are not a good person either.
After Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister, Lu Jiawen, Deng Wan, Zhang Hong and more than a dozen officials who supported the new party were excluded and left by him.
But fifty steps can really make you laugh a hundred steps.
Deng Wan and Lu Jiawen themselves offended too many people, but Zhang Yue dismissed Zhang Yue out of selfish motives.
The greatest trouble for an emperor is not to seek power but to seek the reputation of broadness and generosity.
Facts have proved that this move is necessary.
Zhang Yue was questioned and opposed by both the old and new parties when it came to attacking Qingtang and reforming the military service. He was even so angry that he even made some angry remarks.
If Deng Wan and his like were still in the court, I am afraid Zhang Yue would have resigned as prime minister long ago.
Therefore, it was inevitable for Li Chengzhi and Wang Lian to leave. At the same time, Huang Lu's promotion, Xiong Ben's joining, and Cai Que's repair allowed Zhang Yue to control Sinong Temple and Sansi.
Make it possible to reform the labor law in the next step.
Lu Huiqing's problem is that she is in a hurry to "pluck out the thorn" without doing anything.
Lu Huiqing was ruthless as soon as he came up, thinking of solving the problem once and for all, and then calmly reforming. But others didn't know, and thought that you, Lu Huiqing, were just here to mess with people.
Even if Lu Huiqing wins in the end, the remaining people on the left and right are all sycophants, so where can they find helpers?
Zhang Yue is different, accumulating small victories into big victories.
The strength may not be too great, but always exert force forward. This is the meaning of the Tao of the Weak.
[Skill] Use weakness rather than strength.
You can use victory to consolidate the foundation, and then use the foundation laid to move towards the next victory.
Although it is a thorn in the side, Li Chengzhi must be pulled out. Wang Lian and Wang Lian have nothing to say. We will give him the level he deserves and the treatment he deserves. Don’t make it too ugly. Just go as far as you can. Leave a trace in your behavior so that you will get along well with him in the future.
See.
The politics of the Song Dynasty were all about fighting without defeat, not winner-take-all.
Political struggle is normal, so don’t imagine solving the problem once and for all.
Empress Dowager Gao did not understand this. She used the harem model to govern the court and demoted Cai Que to Lingnan, which destroyed the century-old foundation of the Song Dynasty.
Now that the officials are disobedient again, what should we do?
I had said well before that I wanted to issue an edict to let people speak freely, but now I am pretending that nothing has happened.
Zhang Yue put down his pen and wrote sparse and direct remonstrances, which was not good-looking for the officials, and was not in line with his way of using the weak instead of the strong.
At this time, it was reported outside that Lu Gongzhu, Sima Guang and Cheng Yi were visiting.
Lu Gong's work was good, but when Zhang Yue heard that Sima Guang and Cheng Yi were visiting him, he was immediately surprised.
Wang Anshi and Sima Guang have something in common, and their reputations can be very polarizing. I hate them to the extreme, and all kinds of treacherous ministers and accusations of harming the country and the people are hurled at them.
But words of praise are also used in every possible way. For example, Sima Guang is known as the "Prime Minister of the Mountains".
Although he is in the opposition, his speech is similar to that of the prime minister.
The same was true for Wang Anshi. When Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister for the second time, Zhang Yue, in order to show his support for the reform, wrote a letter shamelessly touting him as "the most perfect man under three generations."
It is said that Wang Anshi burned his letters on the spot after reading them.
Wang Anshi and Sima Guang have polarizing opinions, which is quite speechless. There is no doubt that both of them are gentlemen, because a gentleman will not make friends with villains.
Not only the two of them, but also Jiayou's four friends are all gentlemen.
But this is the case with the "state affairs" dispute. Maybe you know that the other party is public-minded and just discussing the matter. But when it comes to political disputes, you don't care about that, and you may even be so angry that you want to die.
At this moment, I really can't control it.
Those who can control it are saints.
Therefore, when Sima Guang and Cheng Yi came, Zhang Yue also had a headache. It was not a bad thing, and he couldn't bear seeing the two of them quarreling with him.
The bigger your official position, the more people will support you, and you will be surrounded by all kinds of obedient people. Even if your respect is not up to standard, it is a kind of disrespect. If Zhang Yue is quarreling with others now, he will not say anything about it, and the other party's tone will be slightly polite. Anything too serious will be regarded as a serious provocation!
Therefore, not to mention that it is not easy for the emperor to accept advice, Zhang Yue himself is not a person who likes to listen to advice, and the second half of his sentence will be useless if he does not make sense.
Therefore, Zhang Yue realized how difficult it was for Emperor Renzong.
However, in order to limit the power of the emperor, one must open up a wide range of opinions.
When Zhang Yue thought of this, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Sima Guang came at the right time today. Isn't he here to help me?
Zhang Yue thought of this and said to his servant: "Please come to the atrium."
Zhang Yue immediately stopped wearing his shoes and jogged barefoot all the way to the atrium where he stood respectfully.
After a while, Duke Lu and Sima Guang arrived in front of the atrium and saw Zhang Yue standing barefoot.
Lu Gongzhu was a common person on weekdays. When Zhang Yue saw Sima Guang, he immediately stepped forward and asked: "Twelve feet!"
After saying this, Zhang Yue looked at Sima Guang and couldn't help but be surprised.
Sima Guang had only been studying in Luoyang for a few years. Unexpectedly, his beard and hair were all white, his teeth were all gone, and he was so old.
Zhang Yue thought about this and couldn't help but feel a little sad for Sima Guang.
