The third year of Zhenyou in the Kingdom of Jin was also the eighth year of Jiading in the Song Dynasty.
Different from the turbulent political situation of its powerful neighbor in the north, the Song Dynasty had been stable for eight full years after the somewhat absurd Northern Expedition in the Kaiju Year. Compared with the Jin Dynasty, the people of the Song Dynasty were more comfortable after all.
However, although the ravages of war have been reduced, floods and droughts caused by irregular weather conditions have not stopped. Moreover, in recent years, the scale and destructive power of various disasters seem to be stronger every year than before. The Liangzhe Road alone, on which the imperial court was based, has experienced floods fourteen times, sea overflows eight times, and droughts as many as twenty times in a total of only twenty-one years since the Qingyuan period when the current emperor ascended the throne. At the worst time, when the victims were not allowed to receive relief, there were horrific scenes of wives eating their husbands' corpses, brothers eating their brothers' corpses, and even fathers and sons cannibalizing each other's corpses.
The current Emperor of the Song Dynasty is a benevolent emperor who loves his people. When talking about this situation, he is often depressed. In the past few days, news came from the palace that the emperor was very worried when he thought about the lack of rain in late spring this year, and planned to issue an edict to punish his own bad virtues in order to implore God to show mercy to the people. In addition, it is also planned to arrange measures to pray for rain and fight against the epidemic across the country.
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Those magic tricks, including painting dragons to pray for rain, lizards to pray for rain, killing geese to pray for rain, etc., are extremely ridiculous and most knowledgeable people do not believe them. But if we turn to what Zhu Xi said about inspiring harmony and leading to Feng Rang...the emperor was actually not unvirtuous, and everyone knew this. So, is there something wrong with Zaizhi?
If the plan were to hit Shi Xiang, Chao Gang would be in turmoil, let alone him.
Therefore, the emperor could only focus on these seemingly absurd rain praying ceremonies.
On this day, April 8, a group of servants, surrounded by a warm sedan, walked slowly through the Imperial Street. The sedan itself was ordinary in shape and not ornately decorated, so on both sides of the Imperial Street, especially from Wansongling to Zhongan Bridge, the people passing by were busy minding their own business, and no one paid attention to the sedan.
Lin'an was the capital of the Song Dynasty. Because the official capital was always in Bianliang, Lin'an's cities and palaces had never been fully expanded. Although the imperial street in the center of the city is spacious, there are too many shops on both sides. Many shops have moved the kitchen stoves and wine marzipan outside, taking up the main space on the edge of the imperial street. The sedan chair will inevitably move slower. .
When we arrived near the Drum Tower, the flow of people became increasingly dense. The servants shouted several times but failed to clear the way. So the people in the sedan slightly opened the curtain and looked outside.
This man was about fifty years old, with a Chinese character face, thick eyebrows, and five long strands of beard fluttering under his chin. His appearance was very majestic, and his eyes were somewhat sharp. He was Shi Miyuan, the powerful official who controlled the politics of the Song Dynasty.
He was the one who led the killing of Han Kanwei during the Kaixi period and pushed the Song Dynasty to pray for peace with the Jin Kingdom. Therefore, he had a bad reputation among ordinary soldiers and civilians. Earlier, there were even military officers colluding with each other to murder him. Several years have passed since that incident, but Shi Miyuan still has it. When traveling in private, he often uses a sedan of ordinary specifications, just to be on the safe side.
At this time, when he looked outside, he frowned and shouted in a deep voice, "What's going on? Why are there so many monks and nuns gathered outside?"
As soon as these words came out, the confidant butler next to the sedan suddenly smiled, but he immediately suppressed it.
The servants all knew that the Prime Minister was extremely cautious and devoted himself to the balance of the court.
Starting last month, under the banner of praying for rain, the emperor repeatedly summoned Taoists who claimed to have magical powers, including Master Chongmiao from Dongxiao Palace, Taoist Ziqingming from Taiyi Palace, and so on. Although Shi Miyuan didn't say a word about this, he quietly sent people to worship the temple, and publicly persuaded the emperor to decree the level of Jiangnan Zen Temple and set up five Zen temples and ten temples. At the same time, he also spread the news to the outside world that he was a Tiantong. The monk Hongzhi Zhengjue was reincarnated.
I have been busy all the time, but deep down, I just want to prevent any flaws in my family from being taken advantage of by the emperor. Seeing many monks and nuns at this moment, Shi Xiang subconsciously felt nervous, wondering if these Buddhists had also responded to the emperor.
Actually not, he was too worried.
"Master Prime Minister, today is Buddha's birthday, and all the temples are asking for alms!"
"oh oh!"
Shi Miyuan laughed dumbly: "I forgot."
April 8th is the birthday of the Buddha, and there are Buddha bathing parties in various temples. The monks and nuns filled the bronze Buddha statues in small basins, soaked them in sugar water, and covered them with flower sheds. Then they went to wealthy houses in various places in the city and used small ladles to pour the water from the Buddha bath on their bodies as a blessing. Of course, those who are watered must immediately give money to give alms to show their respect for the Buddha.
This has been a custom in Lin'an City for decades. When Shi Miyuan's sedan passed by the West Lake earlier, it happened at a life release party, where wealthy businessmen from all over the place were bidding to release turtles, fish, snails and clams. He also praised a few words at that time, but unexpectedly he forgot them all in the blink of an eye.
To him, whether he worships Buddhism or believes in Taoism, they are just tools after all.
Shi Miyuan lowered the curtain of the sedan chair, feeling that he might make his servants look down upon him because of his lapse in words, and he suddenly became angry. He also understood that these stupid people did not understand why he lost his temper.
A few days ago, news came from Huaidong, Huaixi and other places at the same time, saying that the political situation of the Jin Dynasty was turned upside down. A strong minister named Guo Ning raised troops to defeat the Jin troops and horses from all walks of life, and took control of the Zhongdu court in one fell swoop. , putting the emperor in the palm of his hand.
As soon as this news came to Xingzai, it aroused the reaction of many bored civil servants. It was obviously a matter that had nothing to do with the Song Dynasty. It was obvious that the Jin Kingdom itself was an enemy of the Song Dynasty. It was these people who kept criticizing Shi Miyuan's policy of relaxation. But when the Jin Kingdom had powerful ministers, these people jumped to the sky. , wrote colorful articles angrily denounced these abuses of power, bullied the emperor's rebellion, and tried to coerce the temple's political affairs to make the Song Dynasty respond to the Jin Dynasty's coup.
Absolutely ridiculous.
What do they care about, where is the war or peace between Song and Jin? How will Guo Ning's ferocity affect the Song Dynasty? Where is the order of kings and ministers in the Kingdom of Jin?
Most of the people in the north are still wild and they fight with each other only with force. Isn't that normal?
They were clearly criticizing Guo Ning of the Jin Kingdom, but they actually meant Shi Miyuan of the Song Dynasty. Every word they said was scolding me! These idiots just feel uncomfortable seeing me standing above the other ministers!
In Shi Miyuan's view, Guo Ning's usurpation of power was nothing more than a trivial matter.
According to many courtiers, this kind of powerful mercenary conquest does have its own threats. If his power continues to expand, there is no guarantee that he will become a threat to the Song Dynasty at some time, just like what happened when the Jin Dynasty replaced the Liao Dynasty.
But think about it from another perspective, Dajin is the most powerful country in the world. The Jurchens back then were said to be invincible. How powerful were they? In recent years, they had been at war with the Black Tartars in the north, so they did not bother to cause trouble with the Song Dynasty. Compared with Dai Jin, Guo Ning is just a guy who started from scratch and has no foundation. What can those guys really accomplish?
It has been almost a hundred years since Emperor Gaozong made his southern journey. In the long hundred years, no Han could rise up and destroy the Jin Kingdom, and those who converted would only deceive the court all day long, causing the court to launch troops for the Northern Expedition. This shows that there are no heroes in the Central Plains. Guo Ning suddenly gained power. When the commanders on the border of Dajin came to their senses, wouldn't they be wiped out instantly?
This kind of thing is simply not worth discussing in court. However, the guards in Huaidong and Huaixi made such a fuss, and Ding Yan and Hou Zhongxin talked nonsense all day long in order to cover up the failure of their mission!
Shi Miyuan has been thinking about how to comply with the trend of the court officials reprimanding powerful ministers without going into a big fight and seriously burning this fire on himself. After thinking for several days, there was no result. Even Xuan Zhen, Xue Ji and others could not come up with a good solution.
But when he saw monks and nuns walking down the street asking for money, he suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.
After all, there were certainly people in the court who spoke righteously and scolded the powerful ministers of the Northern Kingdom; but below the court, there were many people who made money by doing private business with the North. Shi Miyuan has always been clear about this. In the past two years, a large amount of materials have been flowing to the north, so much so that the price of food in Ningshao and other places has become expensive. How could it be hidden from the current prime minister? This was originally the tacit approval of the top management!
Now that the court is in turmoil, let those who denounce the powerful ministers come forward to rectify the market and maritime trade. Temporarily blocking the food trade at sea is in line with their ideas, and it also suppresses Guo Ning's power. And this kind of move will inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of many people who rely on sea trade. At present, dogs bite dogs in the court, both sides are crazy, and egoism is in dual use, and it is appropriate to advance and retreat!
Shi Miyuan suddenly became happy, and then he considered that this kind of matter could not be left entirely to the officials in the court. Officials are good at what they say, but their work is unreliable. It takes a careful person to do it in detail, so that this matter can be done smoothly and steadily, and the trend in the court can be safely sent away.
He suddenly thought of someone, so he knocked on the sedan window.
The head servant hurriedly leaned over and asked, "What are your orders, Prime Minister?"
"Over in Chuzhou, there is a county magistrate named Jia She who is very familiar with the market and sea trade. In the past few days, documents from the border areas have been sent frequently, talking about the turmoil in the north, and he was one of them."
As the sole prime minister of the dynasty, he is very knowledgeable about the local officials. This is really the skill of a powerful minister. The head servant said respectfully: "There is such a person. His document also said that the best way to suppress the expansion of powerful officials in the north is food. If he is in charge, the outflow of food can be suppressed as smoothly as possible. , It won’t cause trouble. It’s just that to handle these things well, a fee of three thousand guan is needed.”
Interestingly, what this person saw was the same as mine.
Shi Miyuan said casually: "Give him three thousand strings! Let him watch carefully for me!"
