This morning, Zhao Jun finally met his students and had his first class. At noon, under the leadership of the village chief and party secretary, he walked around the village and chatted with several villagers about the tea method of the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Jun has always been willing to teach the villagers who are eager to learn. This is to show his knowledge.
After all, he is now the only supporting teacher in Nini Village Primary School, and he will most likely be the principal in the village in the next two years. If his knowledge is not profound enough to be admired by all the villagers, then how can he teach and educate people in the village?
Therefore, he knows everything he knows and speaks everything he knows.
In the afternoon, except for Yan Shu who stayed in the back garden to continue taking care of Zhao Jun, everyone else went back. Some are going back to deal with government affairs, and some are going back to discuss some things.
Fan Zhongyan left the palace in a sedan chair and headed towards his Fan Mansion in Daguan Lane, Liangmen, outer city.
After leaving the palace, we arrived at the inner city of Bianliang.
The Northern Song Dynasty has been at peace for more than thirty years since the Battle of Chanzhou. Although there was some domestic turmoil, the economy and culture were prosperous. Bianliang had a population of more than one million, with connected cities and streets. There were three lakes and rivers in the city. There are six arch bridges and countless ships.
People are coming and going on the street, stalls are set up in front of the squares on both sides, people are walking in the streets and alleys, there are groups of merchants, common people, traders, and foot soldiers. You can even see exotic customs, including Liao people, Dali people, Tubo people, and Uighurs. Homo sapiens, cannibals, Persians, etc.
According to historical data and unearthed records, the total population of Bianliang during the Northern Song Dynasty was more than 1.5 million, among which there were a very large number of foreigners. For example, Persians, later known as Jews, were said to have reached 100,000.
The streets along the way are extremely prosperous, with numerous signboards, huge crowds of people, and various hawking sounds. People from all over the world shuttle through the busy city, creating a prosperous scene.
"Cooking cakes, fresh cooking cakes."
"Cold cakes, come and have some cold cakes, and Huan Chaole."
"My lord, let's take a look at the spices from the Western Regions. There are also incense balls, which are delicious when hung on the body."
Fan Zhongyan's sedan passed through various crowds, passed several city gates, arch bridges, and rivers, and arrived at Daguan Lane. The alley outside the city was much quieter, and a servant stood at the entrance of Fan's house and was watching at the street entrance.
"Jia Jun is back."
When a servant saw Fan Zhongyan's sedan, he hurriedly greeted him.
Before Fan Zhongyan's sedan came near, the bearer carrying the sedan said to him: "Master, the steward is here."
"Um."
Fan Zhongyan nodded.
The steward came over in a hurry without stopping the sedan, and reported to him outside the curtain of the sedan: "My lord, a rich and powerful official came over just now and learned that my lord was not at the house, so he went back. When he left, he told the villain to let him be there. I'm waiting for my husband at the street corner. I'll let him know as soon as he comes back."
"Oh? Is Yan Guo back?
Fan Zhongyan was reading in the sedan chair. When he heard this, he immediately put down the book in his hand and said to the steward: "Send someone to Uncle Yong and Yan Guo's house and ask them to come over. He said, I have something to discuss with them. "
"Yes, Jiajun."
The officials first welcomed Fan Zhongyan into the mansion, then called several other servants over and hurried out of the mansion to report the news.
Who in the capital doesn't know that Fan Xiwen is fighting with Lu Yijian, the prime minister of the dynasty?
Some time ago, Fan Xiwen was beaten to the bottom, from the high-ranking governor of Kaifeng to a small secretary and young prisoner. At that time, thousands of people beat him, and many people wrote letters to impeach Lao Fan.
As a result, just when everyone thought that the Lu Party was going to win a complete victory, the backbone of the lower levels of the Lu Party were purged in the blink of an eye.
The situation changed so quickly that the officials were unable to react.
Now that General Fu Bi, a member of the Fan Party, has returned, everyone knows that the two sides may start fighting again.
Therefore, many people are paying attention to Fu Bi's movements.
Soon the servants of the Fan Mansion went their separate ways and went to the residences of several important members of the Fan Party to invite them.
After Fan Zhongyan returned home, he went to the backyard first, took a shower and changed clothes. After he washed off the dust on his body, he went straight to the middle hall, where someone lit a small stove with boiling water on it, and then started making tea by himself. .
From the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, tea gradually became popular. From the princes and nobles to the traders and servants, everyone loved to drink tea. Tea, like firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar, has since become one of the necessities of life for the common people.
After waiting for almost two-quarters of an hour, the impatient Ouyang Xiu arrived first, and before he showed up, the voice came, "Xiwen, hahahaha, it's so happy."
Ouyang Xiu came in, walked straight to Fan Zhongyan's desk, and picked up a cup of hot tea. Before Fan Zhongyan could stop him, he raised his head and took a sip.
"Bah, it's so hot."
Ouyang Xiu stuck out his tongue, threw the cup on the table, and said happily: "It's so good. I feel much more energetic when I walk these days."
Fan Zhongyan said helplessly: "Okay, Uncle Yong, sit down first and wait until Yan Guo and the others arrive."
"Uncle Yong, why are you so happy?"
Several more people came in one after another outside the door, naturally they were Yu Jing, Yin Zhu, Cai Xiang and others. Among them was a man in his thirties with a thin face who strode in vigorously and resolutely.
"You are here."
When Ouyang Xiu saw the crowd and the thin man, he laughed and said, "Yan Guo, you are finally back."
That person was Fu Bi.
Fan Dang is actually not very old. They are generally between thirty and forty years old. The reason why Fan Zhongyan is the leader is because Fan Zhongyan is the oldest in age and official position, and his status in the court is also relatively important.
But this does not mean that the Fan Party is all following Fan Zhongyan's lead. It can only be said that they are good friends with Fan Zhongyan and have the ambition to reform all the shortcomings of the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop.
Therefore, to put it simply, the so-called Fan Party is actually a group of young middle-level officials in the court who are determined to reform.
In the future, during the middle and later stages of Renzong's reign, they would also become the backbone of the prime ministers and assistants of Renzong's dynasty.
After Fu Bi came in, he ignored Ouyang Xiu. Instead, he cupped his hands to Fan Zhongyan who was sitting on the main seat and said, "Mr. Xiwen."
"Um."
Fan Zhongyan nodded and said, "Sit down."
Everyone took their seats.
Ouyang Xiu was the first to speak again: "Mr. Xiwen, this time we won a big victory, even the Admonition Yuan got it. Next, the Admonition Yuan will gather together to write a letter to impeach Lu Yijian to see if he can stand down!"
"Well, Yan State now knows the Admonition Court and is in charge of the Admonition Officer. We can just use it to attack the Prime Minister!"
Cai Xiang also said.
"Isn't it too reckless? The officials just asked Xiwen to clean up some middle and lower-level officials of the Lu Party. Lu Yijian and Song Shou's status is as stable as Mount Tai. Obviously the officials do not want them to be dismissed as prime ministers."
Yu Jing hesitated and said, "If we insist on continuing to impeach Lu Yijian, I'm afraid it will arouse the anger of the officials."
"What are you afraid of?"
Ouyang Xiu was always bold, and he immediately said: "It is because the officials care too much about old friendships that they let Lu Yijian dominate the government. This man has already become the prime minister, and Li Si and Zhao Gao are no more than that. If he cannot be dismissed as the prime minister, the Song Dynasty will be in danger!"
"Well, that makes sense. And who doesn't know that Yan Guo is on the same page as us? The officials put Yan Guo in charge of the Admonition Court, probably because they wanted to use us to contain Lu Yijian, just because Lu Yijian is an old minister after all."
Yin Zhu also said: "Yanguo, in a few days, you should impeach Lu Yijian immediately."
Everyone looked at Fu Bi. Now Fu Bi has grown into an important force that played a decisive role in defeating the Lu Party.
Historically, the fan and Lu party struggle lasted for several months, and finally ended with Fan Zhongyan, Yu Jing, Yin Zhu, Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang and others being demoted from Bianliang, and Lu Yijian won a great victory.
But now it is completely different from what it was in history.
Because the Fan Party was not purged this time, the power of admonishers at the middle and lower levels of the Lu Party was dealt a devastating blow, and their right to speak in the court was greatly reduced.
The most important thing is that the Admonition Court in the Song Dynasty was very special. This institution was a public opinion organ and was responsible for collecting suggestions and comments from the court.
At that time, admonishment officers and censors were established in the imperial court, commonly known as Taijian. The censor is responsible for organizing various officials to collect opinions from the people; the admonishers discuss the gains and losses of governance for the emperor's reference, and sometimes correct the emperor's mistakes.
The Song Dynasty inherited the Tang system, but the admonishment officer system between the Song and Tang Dynasties was different. In the Tang Dynasty, the admonishment officers belonged to the province of Menxia, that is, they were governed by the prime minister and were the mouthpiece of the prime minister. Therefore, the admonition officers in the Tang Dynasty became the power of the prime minister.
In the Song Dynasty, the imperial court divided the admonishment officers into the left and right admonishing officials, the left and right admonishing officials, and the left and right admonishing officials, and established an admonishing court. The admonishing officers were no longer under the management and recommendation of the prime minister, but were promoted directly by the emperor.
This resulted in the Admonition Yuan being very powerful. It could discuss the appointment of officials of the imperial court and various political affairs, put forward opinions, and regulate and admonish the government for deficiencies.
The admonishment officials in the admonishment court had a habit of telling everything they knew and what they said was not a crime. They often disagreed with the prime minister's opinions. From then on, the admonishment court became an important tool for the emperor to supervise court officials.
Now that Fu Bi has been transferred back to Bianliang, he is in charge of the admonishment court. Although he is in charge of the admonition office in Kaifeng Prefecture, he is only a sixth-grade official. There is a lot of energy in everything.
After transferring a general from the Fan Party to the important position of the Admonition Court, everyone speculated that the officials obviously intended to suppress the power of the prime minister, so they decided to start an uprising immediately and use Fu Bi's energy to launch an attack on Lu Yijian.
But after hearing what everyone said, Fu Bi did not respond immediately. Instead, he looked at Fan Zhongyan and said, "Mr. Fan, what do you think?"
Fan Zhongyan pondered for a moment and then asked: "Yan Guo, what do you think?"
"I think the official's behavior this time is very strange."
Fu Bi said: "Although it seems that many of Lu Yijian's disciples and former officials have been eliminated, they are all from the middle and lower levels, such as the censor Han Du, the admonishers Gao Ruona, Liu Jie, etc., and the foundation has not been damaged. And even if they were eliminated Except for me, the Taiwan admonishment officials, the others who took office are not on good terms with us, this is not a sign that the officials want to take action against Lu Yijian."
"It seems so."
Being reminded by Fu Bi, Yu Jing frowned and said, "If the officials really want Lu Yijian to be dismissed as prime minister, we can all go to the Yushitai and the Court of Admonishment, and then we will attack in groups. No matter how thick-skinned Lu Yijian is, we should do it ourselves." Forget it, why is Yan Guo back?"
Fan Zhongyan chuckled and shook his head: "This is not surprising. Officials have always had a swinging temperament. If it weren't for..."
Ouyang Xiu wondered: "If not what?"
"nothing."
Fan Zhongyan waved his hand.
He knew very well that if it weren't for Zhao Jun, he would have been demoted to Raozhou by now.
That official was always so hesitant.
Zhao Jun said that in history, the dispute between Fan and Lu lasted for several months, and the officials could not make up their minds, but in the end, Lu Yijian's status in the officials' hearts was higher, and Fan Dang was demoted from the capital.
But now the appearance of Zhao Jun has made the officials realize that he is very important, which means that Fan Zhongyan's status in the hearts of the officials has been greatly improved.
Because of this, the officials wanted to bring peace to the world. They neither deposed the Fan Party on a large scale nor directly eliminated Lu Yijian. Instead, they only targeted the middle and lower-level grassroots of the Lu Party and brought Fu Bi back to appease him. Fan Zhongyan's emotions.
But the problem is that in Fan Zhongyan's mind, Lu Yijian is a powerful prime minister who brings disaster to the country and the people. The two sides are different in terms of interests and positions. How can Fan Zhongyan just let it go?
So this battle must continue.
Fu Bi said: "The officials are wavering and are obviously unwilling to depose Lu Yijian. Even if he writes a letter of impeachment, it may not be effective."
Ouyang Xiu said anxiously: "I don't believe that Lu Yijian is so thick-skinned. He has the nerve to stay in his position despite being impeached."
"Uncle Yong, don't be so impatient. You will suffer big losses in the future with your temper."
Fan Zhongyan frowned and said: "If we force the officials to make a choice now, we may not be able to get a good deal. We must make a decision before taking action."
"What's Xiven's idea?"
Cai Xiang asked.
"You forgot."
Fan Zhongyan looked around and smiled slightly: "There are experts behind me!"
