The next day, the news that two Jinshi from the Ma family were arrested caused a sensation throughout Bianliang.
Han Zong got the news that day and was completely panicked.
Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu are not little people. In terms of origin, they are direct descendants of the Ma family. In terms of imperial examination, they are from Jinshi. In terms of positions, one is a supervisory censor and the other is a judge of the third division.
In the Song Dynasty, the official who was not punished by the imperial examination actually did not refer to the official who was appointed as an official by Men Yin or the kind of officials who were born with the same background as Jinshi.
Because many such officials were arrested in the Song Dynasty.
During the seventeen years of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's reign, more than 4,000 officials, big and small, were executed.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, although officials were not often killed, there were several ways to punish corrupt officials, such as removal, suspension, replacement, replacement, dismissal, removal from office, demotion, and dismissal.
But one thing they have in common is that even if officials are severely punished, those who are usually punished are officials with lower official status such as Men Yin and Jinshi.
However, officials who are ranked first, second or third grade, as well as those from wealthy families, are often not severely punished.
Even if the government and opposition parties criticize him, the forced punishment is only symbolic. Basically, he will be demoted for a few months, or at most a year and a half, and then he will be promoted again by Zhao Zhen.
This phenomenon was not particularly prominent in the Zhao Kuangyin era, so official governance was the best in the Zhao Kuangyin era.
It was slightly relaxed in the Zhao Guangyi era, and then reached its peak in the late Song Zhenzong and Song Renzong Zhao Zhen periods. From then on, the Song Dynasty could not punish officials at all.
But now something different has emerged.
Two Jinshis from the Ma family, who came from wealthy families and were Jinshis, were arrested like this?
What about yourself?
Han Zong was panicked for a moment. He asked himself that he had worked in Kaifeng Mansion for so many years and had done a lot of dirty things. What would happen if Zhao Jun found out about him?
So when the news of Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu's arrest came, Han Zong hurried straight to Han Yi's mansion.
Although the wealth of Han Yi's family is not as rich as that of the Lu family, they still own a mansion. When Han Zong arrived at the door of the mansion, he ignored the servants at the door and the maids in the mansion calling him "Erlang" and "Xiaoyanei" all the way, and went straight to the backyard.
At this moment, Han Yi had just returned home. Zhao Jun raided Ma's house on the fourth day after raiding Kaifeng Mansion, at noon. Han Zong got the news in the afternoon and came to see Han Yi.
So at this time, Han Yi had just left the Privy Council for a short time. He was in the dressing room in his backyard. With the help of the maid, he changed his court clothes into ordinary clothes. As he was tidying up the dressing room, he heard a voice outside the door: "Father!"
Han Yi didn't look back. He looked at himself in the bronze mirror and continued to take care of his collar slowly. There were rapid footsteps behind him, and Han Zong shouted again: "Father, something serious is going to happen."
"How unbecoming is it to yell and scream in the mansion? How many times have I told you that you won't change your mind until the mountain collapses? Why are you so flustered?"
Han Yi was a little dissatisfied and was still arranging his hair.
Han Zong said with a sad face: "Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu were just kidnapped by people from the Imperial City Division."
Han Yi's movements suddenly froze, and then he was silent for a moment. He lowered his hand and said to the maid beside him: "You guys can get out."
"yes."
The two maids bowed and left.
"Father, what should I do?"
Han Zong stepped forward and said, "I didn't expect that Zhao Jun would be so rampant and even arrested members of the Ma family. I'm afraid he will catch me sooner or later."
"well."
Han Yi let out a long sigh, turned around, put his hands behind his back, and walked into the yard.
The big trees in the yard have fallen leaves. Compared with Zhao Jun's simple two-entry courtyard, Han Yi's residence covers an area of seven or eight acres. There are more than ten towering trees in the yard, the flower beds and grass are colorful in red and green, and the gentle breeze brings a light touch. The fragrance of osmanthus.
There is a rockery pond on one side of the backyard. Han Yi walked to the pavilion beside the pond, sat on a chair beside the pavilion, looked at the goldfish swimming in the pond next to him, and fell into deep contemplation.
"Father."
Han Zong followed, lowered his head and asked, "What should we do now?"
Han Yi didn't respond, just thinking.
Han Zong asked twice more, but when he saw that he still didn't speak, he had to wait.
After a while, Han Yi suddenly said: "Zhong Wen."
Han Zong said hurriedly: "Father."
"You have also taken a lot from Kaifeng Mansion over the years. If you hand it over now and plead guilty to the officials, you may be given a lighter sentence."
Han Yi said.
Han Zong's face turned pale in an instant, and he said with a mournful face: "Father is going to treat his son as an abandoned son."
Han Yi shook his head: "I don't want to do this, but these days, I have been watching the actions of the officials. Do you know? In the past, the officials would never have given the Imperial City Division such authority."
Han Zong said silently: "So what? Do the officials really want to take action against us? If so, can't they just find an excuse to dismiss us from office?"
"But the officials didn't do this. My father was thinking that there might be some other reasons."
Han Yi thought for a long time, and finally sighed: "That's all, let's test the officials again. See if you can contact the colleagues of Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu, as well as the disciples and former officials of the Ma family, and then write a letter to the officials to make a fuss. No, if the officials are willing to let go, there may be room for maneuver in this matter."
Han Zong said: "I'm afraid it's not enough to just find these people. Aren't there enough quarrels between Yushitai and Jianyuan these days? Maybe we should find Lu Xiang and others. The government gave the Imperial City Division the authority, but now the Imperial City Division has taken it. Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu want to kill the scholar-bureaucrats."
"what you up to?"
Han Yi asked.
"Three years after Yi Zu was appointed, he erected a stele in the side room of the Imperial Ancestral Temple's dormitory. There are three lines of oaths on the stele, one of which is: 'The descendants of the Chai family are guilty and shall not be punished. Even if they are guilty of treason, they will be punished in prison and will not be allowed to go to the market." Even if Cao Cao punishes and kills, his relatives will not be killed. The second cloud is: "You are not allowed to kill the scholar-bureaucrats, or the people who write letters." The third cloud is: "Any descendant who takes this oath will be killed by heaven."
Han Zong's face was as serious as water and he said: "The officials are violating the laws of their ancestors by doing this. I think we must contact all the princes in the dynasty and ask Prime Minister Lu, Prime Minister Wang and all the officials in the dynasty to jointly petition the officials. Even if the two horses Anyone who commits dereliction of duty should be judged by Dali Temple, not the Imperial City Secretary!"
According to Lu You's "Summer Escape Manchao", this incident is the source of the Song Dynasty's not killing scholar-bureaucrats. During Zhao Kuangyin's time, a monument was indeed erected saying not to kill scholar-bureaucrats. But he himself did not comply and killed many corrupt officials.
But through the efforts of the scholar-bureaucrats in the three dynasties of Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Heng, and Zhao Zhen, Zhao Heng and Zhao Zhen were finally deceived and made them treat the scholar-bureaucrats better and better.
Basically, except for military power and the power to appoint and remove senior officials, all other powers belonged to the scholar-bureaucrats. So now that Zhao Zhen has given the Imperial City Secretary the power, he is robbing the scholar-bureaucrats of their power. This has made the scholar-bureaucrats in the Manchu Dynasty very dissatisfied.
But this matter was not engraved in Taizu's stone tablet after all, so no matter how much trouble was made, under the suppression of the imperial power, it barely had any big consequences.
But once the killing of scholar-officials begins, the scholar-officials will be in trouble.
After all, everyone hopes that they will not be punished after taking bribes, bending the law, and doing all bad things. Even if they are just demoted, it is better than being killed.
Therefore, once the two scholar-bureaucrats Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu were killed, serious consequences would inevitably occur.
Han Zong felt that he could encourage all the scholar-bureaucrats to unite and put pressure on Zhao Zhen. Even if he could not force the emperor to withdraw the Imperial City Department immediately, he should ask the Imperial City Department to hand over the person to Dali Temple for trial. As long as Dali Temple accepted the case, the officials would protect each other. , then wouldn’t everything be easy to talk about?
But what Han Zong didn't expect was that Han Yi glared at him fiercely and said, "Confused, officials hate those who form cliques for personal gain. If all the officials in the dynasty oppose it, do you know what the consequences will be?"
Han Zong said stubbornly: "The law does not punish everyone. No matter what, this is a matter of life and death for the scholar-bureaucrats in the world. I don't believe it. Everyone puts life and death aside?"
"Okay, you do as I say first, test the officials first, and you must not do this."
Han Yi is still reasonable.
The scholar-officials of the Song Dynasty were able to receive preferential treatment because the scholar-officials were not united, so the emperor was willing to give them preferential treatment in exchange for them fighting among themselves to stabilize the imperial power.
If all the scholar-bureaucrats unite, the officials will probably feel fear. Once they feel that the imperial power is threatened, no matter how good they are, they will raise the butcher knife in their hands.
After all, the official's position is the emperor, and the emperor's position is political concerns. Han Zong couldn't understand. As deputy prime minister, Han Yi must understand this.
Therefore, no matter whether it is the three ministers and three counselors, or other senior officials such as the three ministers and the Privy Council, there are few alliances, and they are all in twos and threes. More than twenty or thirty senior officials formed seven or eight gangs to fight against each other. Only this could reassure the emperor.
Now if what Han Zong said is true, then even if the emperor doesn't want to take action on the Han family, he is afraid that he will have to take action on the Han family. As a last resort, Han Yi didn't want to take this risky move, so he would never agree to Han Zong.
"Remember, accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger. No matter how lenient an official is, he is still a tiger. There are some things that you can listen to and see, but you can never do them. Do you understand?"
Han Yi was a little worried and warned his son again.
Han Zong said helplessly: "Yes, I know."
"Just come back and live here these days."
Han Yi thought for a while, "Even if Zhao Jun is more aggressive, as long as the officials don't speak, he probably won't come to my house to take anyone."
"yes."
Han Zong responded.
The Han family immediately started to work, sending people to contact the disciples and former officials of the Ma family, as well as friends of Ma Yuan and Ma Zhongfu, asking them to continue to submit letters.
These are relatively common methods in the court. In the Song Dynasty, Yanguan was in power, and many high-ranking officials had Yanguan under them. These people relied on these people to attack and bite each other. They participated in the later Qingli New Deal and Wang Anshi's reform.
But just when the Han family continued to use the same old tricks, Zhao Jun, who had just captured the two horses yesterday on September 1, the third year of Jingyou, was not in a hurry to interrogate them, but went to Fan Zhongyan's house.
Zhao Jun stayed at Fan Zhongyan's house until the afternoon before leaving.
In the evening, Fan Zhongyan's mansion became lively. In the past, when Zhao Jun came, there was no one in the mansion. Except for a few hired servants and officials, there were two old servants brought by the Fan family themselves.
But today Fan Mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and in the afternoon the sky gradually dimmed. One after another, sedans stopped outside the gate of Fan Mansion, and one by one young officials got off the sedans and entered the mansion.
When Lao Fan invited guests to dinner, he specially prepared a large table with hot pot on it, using rabbit meat as the main ingredient. It was called "Boxia Gong" at that time.
Secretary Cheng Yujing, Prince Zhongyun Yinzhu, Ministry of Industry Langzhong Wu Zunlu, Guange Collector Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, Longtuge direct bachelor Li Hong, Jixian School Manager Wang Zhi, History Museum Reviewer Wang Zhu, Zhijianyuan Fu Bi, etc. More than ten friends came to cheer.
Since Ding Du, the power magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, was dismissed and demoted and transferred to another local magistrate, Zhao Zhen was forced to ask Lao Fan to temporarily stabilize the situation, so everyone thought that today's banquet was to celebrate Fan Zhongyan's reinstatement.
But unexpectedly, when everyone said they were celebrating for him, Fan Zhongyan said that today was not a banquet to celebrate his return to Kaifeng Mansion, which was puzzling.
"Mr. Xiwen, congratulations. This time I brought two bottles of wine to celebrate your reinstatement."
"Today is about other matters, not celebration."
"Really? That's okay. We need to drink anyway, so we can't waste these bottles of old Huadiao."
"Sit down first."
"Mr. Xiwen, look what I brought you."
"Hey, these pieces of cured fish and bacon are really good stuff. Brother An Dao, how do you know I like this?"
"That's right. This is my treasure. I would like to congratulate you on returning to Kaifeng Mansion."
"I didn't call you here today to celebrate. I have other things to do. But let's sit inside first."
Fan Zhongyan greeted everyone.
Everyone is curious about what we are doing today if we are not celebrating?
Suddenly gathering everyone, are you planning to do something big again?
But since Lao Fan didn't say it when welcoming the guests, he naturally suppressed his curiosity first and waited for him to reveal the answer.
Soon everyone arrived one by one, and after the last historian Wang Zhu arrived, the banquet finally started.
It was only then that everyone noticed that there was a thick layer of paper on Fan Zhongyan's seat, which was two or three feet high. No wonder it was placed on the seat.
"Mr. Xiwen, what are these?"
Ouyang Xiu asked curiously: "Could it be your newly published poetry collection? Are you going to share it with me?"
Fan Zhongyan smiled and shook his head and said: "No, I have summoned you all today to do something. I have something to say to you, and I have some questions to ask you."
Everyone looked at each other with puzzled expressions. Fu Bi asked, "Why are you so solemn and calling us here to talk?"
Fan Zhongyan did not speak immediately, but turned his attention to the papers. He placed the thick stack of papers on the table and said to everyone: "Do you still remember the expert I once talked about? "
"Does this have something to do with that expert?"
Yoon Soo asked.
"Um."
Fan Zhongyan said thoughtfully: "That master once asked me what I hope for."
"Oh? How did Mr. Xiwen answer?"
Everyone became interested.
Fan Zhongyan still didn't answer immediately. After waiting for a few seconds, he had organized the words in his mind.
Then he looked around and said to everyone seriously: "I told him that what I hope is that there will be no more suffering in the world, and that the country will be prosperous and the people will be healthy. I only wish to "worry about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness." If not, As a good prime minister, you must also be a good doctor, treating illnesses and saving people, and saving the common people."
"Good! What a great saying: "Be worried about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness"!"
Ouyang Xiu immediately slapped the case and exclaimed: "Such a great ambition is what our generation should have! I will take Mr. Xiwen as my guide, and I will hesitantly pursue this great wish throughout my life. No matter how difficult it is, I will not change my mind!" "
"I'm very happy that Uncle Yong has such a heart."
Fan Zhongyan said solemnly: "The master told me that if you want to fulfill your great wish, you cannot rely on me or him."
"Who should we rely on?"
"us!"
"us?"
Everyone was quite surprised.
"good."
Fan Zhongyan pointed at the crowd and said: "We need a group of like-minded partners who have the same ambitions and ideals, a spirit of willingness to struggle, and a fighting spirit that is not afraid of sacrifice. So I have called you together today to ask if you have such a Ideals and fighting spirit?”
After he finished speaking, he looked at them with sincere and bright eyes, seriously waiting for their answers.
Zhao Jun's current situation is actually not good.
He thought that after arriving in the Song Dynasty, he had given lectures to give the emperor, including all his ministers, lofty ambitions and ambitions.
In the end, it was discovered that they had not changed their minds at all.
Some of them are just superficial rhetoric. They just want to use the knowledge of Zhao Jun's later generations to improve productivity.
They are decadent and backward, stubborn and conservative, and will not accept the system reforms of social progress. They do not want their own interests to be harmed, and they will not accept the reality of the decline of imperial power and the power of scholar-bureaucrats.
They still want to become a mountain that oppresses the people.
According to what the great man said, they are a group of conservative interest groups and they do not want their vested interests to be destroyed.
Therefore, they will do everything possible to obstruct Zhao Jun and prevent the progress of the social system at all costs.
And if you want to bring down this mountain.
Zhao Jun found that relying solely on himself was not enough.
Because the other party is very powerful, they still firmly hold the power of this era, and even want to win over him, assimilate him, and corrupt him.
At least Zhao Jun is now fighting alone. Whether it is Kaifeng Mansion or attacking the Ma family and the Han family, he only compromises again and again when there is no threat to the imperial power and the scholar-bureaucrat class.
When one day Zhao Jun really wants to revolutionize their lives, everything Zhao Jun has today will turn into ashes.
So he can no longer fight alone.
He needs more companions.
Even these companions do not fully accept the ideas of the New Age.
But just going one step further than the old conservative interest groups is already a huge improvement.
After all, the ideas of the five great teachers are pioneering, outstanding and far-sighted.
If placed in later generations, it would naturally be advanced.
But in the Song Dynasty, that is, if you are a hundred years ahead, you are a genius, and if you are a thousand years ahead, you are a monster. Genius and madman are just one thought away.
Therefore, Zhao Jun could not spread the ideas of his mentors immediately. He had to eat one bite at a time, and he could not take too big steps. He could only take it one step at a time.
Nowadays, under the old social system, people are struggling to carve out their own path, gain more power, and obtain more social resources, thereby enhancing their right to speak.
But the great teacher once said that we must create a large number of people who are the vanguard of the revolution. These people had political vision. These people are full of fighting spirit and sacrifice spirit. These people are open-minded, loyal, active, and upright.
These people are not seeking personal gain, they are only for the liberation of the nation and society. These people are not afraid of difficulties and are always firm and courageous in the face of difficulties.
These people are neither arrogant nor arrogant, but down-to-earth and practical people. China must have a large group of such vanguard elements, and the tasks of the Chinese revolution can be successfully solved.
When one day, Zhao Jun gets more things under the old system and creates a group of such people, even if only every ten or even twenty years, he creates a group of people who are more advanced in the original thinking, then for China's future is full of brilliance.
(End of chapter)
