Zhang Yue looked at Sima Guang in front of him, his eyes were dim and his beard was white.
In fact, Sima Guang is not old. He is only fifty-three years old now. Compared with Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo is still young.
Zhang Yue feels that from another perspective, yes, Zizhi Tongjian, which he wrote while dormant in Luoyang, is a work that can go down in history. But in fact, for Sima Guang, it is actually the political achievement of his life. The most frustrating moment.
Although Sima Guang was frustrated, he did not lose his fighting spirit. Judging from his autobiography "Du Yuan Yuan", he meant to compete with Wang Anshi.
Look at how humble the 20-acre independent garden is, the courtyard is too small, and the study hall is too small. You, Wang Anshi, thought it was miserable for me to be demoted to Luoyang, right? Yes, it was so 'miserable'.
Even in Luoyang, Sima Guang occupied the high ground of public opinion by writing Zizhi Tongjian to criticize Wang Anshi's new law.
Sima Guang and Zhang Yue sat across from each other. Sima Guang said to Zhang Yue: "Dude, I am not a person who can't let go. After I left Bianjing, I told everyone that from now on I will never discuss the new law again and return to the old forest." , An Xin wrote the book. But one day Xianke (Lü Jie)'s servants found me and said that Xianke was dying, but hoped to see me one last time before he died."
"When I rushed to his house in a hurry, he was unconscious and only breathed his last."
Lu Jie and Sima Guang were close friends. They fought against Yingzong together with Sima Guang during the Pu Yi period, and later fought against Wang Anshi together. They were teammates in the same trench.
Zhang Yue and Lu Jie were also old friends, and it was thanks to his help that he brought down Ren Shouzhong.
Except for Lu Hui's bad taste in choosing a son-in-law, his character and integrity are commendable.
Speaking of this, Sima Guang sighed: "At that time, I... Finally, when he woke up, he grabbed my hand, forced his eyes open and said reluctantly, 'There is still room for improvement in the affairs of the world, and you should try your best to do it'..." After saying this, he died..."
Zhang Yue sighed when he heard this and remembered his interaction with Lu Ji, but what Lu Ji told Sima Guang before his death was to ask him to continue fighting Wang Anshi...
"Du Zhi, if you were me, could you let go of everything?" Sima Guang asked.
Zhang Yue said: "I dare not comment on the grievances between the bachelor and Mr. Wang. However, I believe that the motivations of the bachelor and Mr. Wang are both for the sake of the country and the people of the world. They just take different paths."
Sima Guang said: "For the sake of the common people in the world? I deeply regret that I had recommended Jiefu to the capital with Han and Lu Ergong without knowing each other."
When Wang Anshi entered the capital and was appointed by the emperor, he could not do without the introduction of three other members of Jiayou's four friends, but in the end he fell out with them one after another.
Zhang Yue said: "Dare I ask the scholar, if there is no King Xianggong in the new law, no one will implement it? This dynasty has been suffering from long-standing shortcomings. When Han Gong and Lu Gong kindly invited Wang Xianggong to come to the dynasty, the laws that Wang Xianggong changed were actually different from those of other laws. The prince also wanted to do it, but because he did it in a disturbing and embarrassing way, everyone went to attack him."
"No matter whether there is a king or not, the new law is implemented. This is actually planned by everyone. Scholars believe that although there are flaws in what Wang Xianggong does, the reform is also in line with the current situation!"
"In line with the times?" Sima Guang chewed on these words.
Zhang Yue said: "The lower official heard that the bachelor's inscription on Lu Gong's epitaph was very critical of current affairs and Wang Xianggong's words. Everyone at that time was worried about the safety of the bachelor. However, after Cai Tianshen visited Luoyang, he spent 50 yuan to buy the bachelor.
This inscription was secretly sent to Wang Xianggong for review."
"But Xianggong Wang was not angry at all after reading it. Instead, he framed the bachelor's article and hung it in his study."
When Sima Guang was in Luoyang, he offended Cai Tianshen by reprimanding him, so Cai Tianshen held a grudge and wanted to harm Sima Guang, so he came up with the idea of killing with a borrowed knife. Wang Anshi was also a sensible person, so he hung the inscription written by Sima Guang to Lu Hui in his study.
But Zhang Yue continued to adhere to the principle of saying good things behind others and never slandering another person in front of others.
Sima Guang laughed and said: "I still say the same thing about Jiefu. Everyone in the world thinks he is treacherous. In fact, the damage is too much. He is just ignorant and too stubborn."
Zhang Yue said with a smile: "The bachelor said that Wang Xianggong didn't know things. It reminded me of the bachelor's teaching that officials should be close to human feelings and be familiar with human feelings when administering government. If you don't understand human feelings, you don't know things."
Sima Guang laughed when he heard this, then stroked his white beard and said slowly: "Now that I think about it, what I said may not be entirely correct."
The old man and the young man smiled at each other after hearing this.
I thought that the words had reached this point, but Sima Guang suddenly asked: "Du Zhi, now that the government and the public are agitated about the new law, how long do you think Jie Fu can be in power?"
Zhang Yue felt a shiver in his heart. Wang Anshi would be wrong to speculate on Sima Guang purely as an academic and moral figure.
An official can achieve the position of prime minister, and there is absolutely no fault.
Zhang Yue asked back: "I don't dare to speculate. In fact, the bachelor wants to ask Wang Xianggong who can replace him?"
Sima Guang asked: "Oh? Who can replace him? Which of the current ministers in the second mansion do you think it is?"
Zhang Yue said: "In my opinion, it won't be any of the ministers in the second government. The official family is more likely to select people from outside to build a new prime minister's team, rather than building a team from the existing candidates."
Sima Guang asked: "Choose from outside the court? Who will it be?"
Zhang Yue said: "The dismissal of Wang Xianggong is because there is something wrong with the new law in practice today. Perhaps most people are thinking that by then the officials will definitely choose the most prestigious official from the opposition ministers who opposed the reform.
To bring order out of chaos, but I don’t think so.”
Sima Guang's expression remained motionless.
Zhang Yue said: "If Wang Xianggong is really dismissed from the prime minister, it does not mean that the reform will stop, because some people will think that the reason why the reform was unsuccessful is because there are bachelors and other old parties who obstructed it and delayed it. Therefore, there are
Maybe someone else will be the prime minister who will be more radical than when Xianggong Wang was in office, and I can’t say for sure.”
Sima Guang pondered Zhang Yue's words.
The two sides had just been in close combat for a short period of time. They attacked and defended each other many times in just a few words.
At this moment, Sima Guang realized that the Zhang Yue in front of him was no longer the younger brother who foolishly followed him while waving flags and cheering for Emperor Yingzong.
Sima Guang said: "The meaning of Duzhi is that the country is like a huge ship. The ship will turn around in a disaster. The new law cannot be abolished because of Jie Fu's absence."
Zhang Yue said: "It's just as the bachelor said."
"At the beginning, the four friends of Jiayou all had the world in mind and the common people of the country. They wanted to solve the current difficulties and eradicate the long-standing evils. Finally, they elected the most courageous and thoughtful Wang Xianggong among the four to help the world."
"But after Mr. Wang came to power, the three bachelors successively opposed it and criticized the new law. No matter what the new law was, the country's long-standing ills were still not solved. This was actually the original intention of the princes, so they still had to take the path of eliminating the current ills."
Sima Guang sighed: "The emperor's duty is no greater than etiquette, etiquette determines the points, and it is good if it is not easy to maintain. You see, there are many affairs in the country today, all because it is difficult to satisfy desires. In the past and present, when a country is about to perish, there must be many systems!"
Zhang Yue smiled slightly. There were differences between the two sides on this point of view. It is better for a gentleman to be harmonious but not different.
Zhang Yue turned to ask about the compilation and editing of Zizhi Tongjian. He could also report this matter to the officials when he came to Beijing.
When he said this, Sima Guang told Zhang Yue with great interest his experience in practicing Zizhi Tongjian.
The unofficial history compiled by Zizhi Tongjian contains 70 to 80 million words. For this reason, Sima Guang filled his bookstore with him, and then he compiled the manuscripts written by Guo Lin and Fan Zuyu.
Every word he wrote was not written on paper but on silk. Needless to say how expensive the silk was, because it was for the emperor to see. Moreover, Sima Guang himself was very rich, and he lived a simple life. He is frugal, but he can spend a lot of money where he should spend money.
Moreover, there are millions of words in Zizhi Tongjian. Sima Guang had to write it every day, and he wrote it very seriously. Zhang Yue looked at the words written on the silk and found that every word was meticulous, and there was always clear water beside the writing desk.
Sima Guang washed his hands before writing, and was extremely careful when flipping through books.
Whenever he was tired after writing, Sima Guang would sleep for a while on the bed with a log pillow beside him. But he didn't sleep for a long time, because as soon as a person fell asleep, the log pillow would roll, and the person would wake up from his deep sleep. Wake up with a start.
Seeing Sima Guang doing this with such great strength at his age, Zhang Yue was very impressed.
It seems that many scholars who have lived in poverty are doing this kind of thing, but besides being a scholar, Sima Guang is also an official, and he almost became a high-ranking official in charge of the two governments.
Being able to step down from the high position of sensuality, live in a cold cave, be willing to be poor and lonely, and write books day by day for several years, Zhang Yue can only express his sincere admiration for Sima Guang.
When it was time to say goodbye, Sima Guang stood up to see Zhang Yue off.
Sima Guang was bowing and holding a bamboo stick in his hand. His eyesight was already very poor. Zhang Yue said, "It's better for the bachelor to stay."
Sima Guang shook his head and said: "You are a scholar in the world, please allow me to give you a gift."
"Ashamed."
After Zhang Yue and Sima Guang walked out of the cold cave, Fan Zuyu and Guo Lin were waiting outside. They were all happy to see Sima Guang and Zhang Yue talking and laughing as they walked out.
Sima Guang escorted Zhang Yue to the front of the mansion, telling him about the scenery of his independent paradise.
Zhang Yue repeatedly urged Sima Guang to stay, but Sima Guang refused.
When they finally parted, Sima Guang said to Zhang Yue: "Du, I have thought a lot about what you just said from the bottom of my heart."
Guo Lin and Fan Zuyu both stepped aside knowingly.
Zhang Yue said: "I wonder what the bachelor is thinking?"
Sima Guang said: "If Jiefu ceases to be a minister, the only people in the government and the public who can succeed him in implementing new laws will probably be Han Zihua (Han Jiang), Lu Jifu (Lu Huiqing), and Zeng Zixuan (Zeng Bu) who are less qualified, but they can also
In order to participate in politics, academicians will assist."
Zhang Yue nodded and said, "Maybe."
Sima Guang pondered for a while and said: "Du Zhi, you are a loyal person. When Lu Jifu excluded you, several of our officials in Luoyang knew about it."
"The reason why a gentleman does not fight is because no one in the world can fight with him, but when it is time to fight, he must still do his part!"
Zhang Yue was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Don't worry, bachelor, Zhang has remembered it."
