Zuo Lang is a magical official position.
After the death of Emperor Renzong, Zhang Yue was promoted to this post with great ceremony.
Zhang Yue was the number one scholar in Jiayou's sixth year, and his promotion speed was really fast. But if he hadn't resigned two years ago, his official position would be even higher now.
As for Wang Shao, Zeng Bu, and Zhang Dun, they were all Jinshi in the second year of Jiayou, and they were Zuo Lang in the first year of Xining.
Zhang Dun is actually the fifth person to become a Jinshi in the fourth year of Jiayou's reign, so it is reasonable for him to be named Zuo Lang.
Relying on Zhang Yue's recommendation, Wang Shao stepped back and recruited the people, and was promoted to Zuo Lang.
As for Zeng Bu, his promotion was a little faster.
Zeng Bu was convinced after meeting Zhang Yue. Zhang Yue had a good relationship with Zeng Gong, and he also intended to support Zeng Bu.
Of course, Zhang Yue's current official position was not enough to recommend Zeng Bu to the imperial court, so he introduced Zeng Bu to Han Wei.
Han Wei agreed to help for Zhang Yue's sake.
As for Zeng Gong and Wang Anshi, although they had little contact recently, Zeng Bu and Wang Anshi had a good friendship, so Wang Anshi also introduced each other. With the recommendation of Han Wei and Wang Anshi, Zeng Bu was promoted to the post of imperial court.
As for Zhang Dun...
Zhang Yue heard from officials at a court meeting that Zhang Dun had surrendered to Wang Anshi's family.
There are various versions of how Zhang Dun came to be appreciated by Wang Anshi.
One said that Li Chengzhi was introduced by Zhang Xun, and the other said that Zhang Dun did not hesitate to worship Wang Anshi's brother-in-law Wu Yi in order to seek refuge with Wang Anshi.
But the truth that Zhang Yue knew was more than that.
Nowadays, there are two factions in the court who advocate promoting reform.
One faction is Han Jiang and the brothers Han Wei. Han Jiang is supported by Han Qi and Han Wei is promoted by Fu Bi. Although their brothers all support reform, their approach is relatively mild.
For example, Zhang Yue was the first to propose the exemption law, and Han Jiang Shangshu proposed it, but it was rejected by Sima Guang when the officials of the two systems and above met for a meeting.
After giving up, Han Jiang and Zhang Yue had no choice. Because there is too much conservative power in the court.
Otherwise, if there is a court dispute, everyone will be at loggerheads.
The other faction is Wang Anshi, Han Jiang and Zhang Yue all have surprisingly similar ideas.
They all have to rely on Wang Anshi's prestige and talent, as well as his determination to reform. What's more important is that Lao Wang is a ruthless person.
Since Han Jiang's side was unable to compete with Sima Guang, Lu Gongzhu and other conservative forces in the court, Wang Anshi must join his side.
The most important thing is that Wang Anshi's political views are more radical than Han Jiang's, and he is more determined to reform.
Han Jiang had no choice but to be the bad guy, so Wang Anshi had to step in and act as a thug.
So why was Zhang Dun favored by Wang Anshi?
Since Wang Anshi wanted to implement reforms, what kind of people would he look for to help?
Are you really looking for sycophants?
Not so. Looking at Cai Que, Zeng Bu, Zhang Dun, Cai Jing, and Deng Wan in the history of another time and space, their methods were more ruthless and their political views were more radical than Wang Anshi.
If Wang Anshi wants to reform, he will not find an official who also supports the reform but has relatively mild political views, because he can do it because he can do this.
But if the reform is to be implemented, those on the front line must be more ruthless and radical than ourselves.
Therefore, Han Jiang approached Wang Anshi to implement the reform, Wang Anshi approached Zhang Dun, and Deng Wan implemented his ideas.
Everyone's thoughts are exactly the same.
Wu Chong, who was already an official of the two systems, submitted a memorial to the officials requesting the implementation of the exemption law. This memorial was fully discussed by Wu Chong and Zhang Yue. It is more prudent and more feasible than the first memorial.
This time the Exemption from Service Act was renamed as the Enforcement Act.
Zhang Yue drafted the purpose of the Recruitment Law. Its first principle is: Anyone who has property and material resources but did not have the Recruitment Law should now contribute money to help.
To put it bluntly, this method is aimed at those families of Guo Pingguan. They have a lot of property, but they do not need to bear the labor. Instead, the common people have to bear the heavy labor. Is it fair?
Is it appropriate to have a high status but spend all day playing with the country's wool?
It is conceivable that once this exemption law is implemented, it will be resented by many officials.
Zhang Yue originally thought that his father-in-law would cherish his current position and would not allow himself to write so straightforwardly, but his father-in-law said without hesitation: "I will bear this grudge alone."
Zhang Yue originally wanted to submit a petition jointly with his father-in-law, but Wu Chong refused. He said that the matter was risky and they could not sit in the same boat.
It is mentioned in the memorial that rural households are divided into five classes and Fangguo is divided into ten classes.
Third-class rural households and above, and fifth-class and above Fangguo households are required to pay service fees according to their household level. The more family property there is, the more money they have to pay.
The fourth-level rural households and the sixth-level Fangguo and below do not need to contribute money, as long as they contribute their own efforts. The imperial court will use the money collected from the service to hire these people to perform labor.
The content of the tax law is roughly the same.
After Wu Chong and Zhang Yue finished writing this method, they showed it to Han Jiang. Han Jiang appreciated Wu Chong and Zhang Yue very much and also added some comments.
In the end, Wu Chong finalized the draft and sent it to the officials. The officials were very happy after reading the memorial on the exemption law. They immediately summoned Wu Chong and said, "The late emperor really has a good sense of people. I have known that you would be willing to speak outright on state affairs."
However, after Wu Chong's appointment, the government handed it over to the Academy of Academic Affairs for discussion, but Sima Guang still opposed it.
Wang Anshi, who was also a Hanlin scholar, said nothing about this.
Zhang Yue was also a little depressed when he learned that his father-in-law's omission was not followed up due to the opposition of the Academy of Sciences. It is true that he has a good relationship with Sima Guang, and both Fan Zuyu and Guo Lin entrust him to look after them.
Let him come forward to break up with Sima Guang and have a big quarrel, but it can't be done. It's really noisy, I guess I'm no match for them.
He and Sima Guang had no personal grudges, and there was nothing to criticize about the other party's character. But their political opinions were not on the same line, so what could be done?
Han Jiang knew that the recruitment law had been blocked by Sima Guang twice without further explanation, so he finally visited Wang Anshi's house in person after retiring from the court one day.
The two talked all night, but it was unclear what they talked about.
A few days later, Han Jiangshangshu said that Wang Anshi's younger brother Wang Anguo had not been able to take the imperial examination because he had been in mourning for three years, and asked the officials to call him to take a separate Jinshi examination.
Wang Anguo passed the examination, was granted the status of Jinshi, and became a professor of Imperial College in Xijing.
In fact, without Han Jiang's help, Wang Anshi had further gained the trust of the officials through giving lectures.
Everyone in the court knew that although Wang Anshi was the least qualified among the Hanlin scholars, he might have come from behind and became the prime minister first.
Along with the rumors of Wang Anshi's appointment as prime minister, the two people who were in the bachelor's college with Sima Guang had a disagreement for the first time because of an incident.
This is a very common case.
A woman named Ayun in Dengzhou wanted to kill her husband and stabbed her husband more than a dozen times. Murdering your own husband is a horrifying thing. Even if you don't kill anyone, you still have to be sentenced severely.
However, Xu Zun, the magistrate of Dengzhou, believed that Ayun was married to his uncle while he was still in mourning, which was not in line with etiquette and law. Therefore, the two were not husband and wife, and it could not be considered as murder of her husband. In addition, Ayun still surrendered, so his sentence must be reduced.
The case was then handed over to the Trial Court and Dali Temple for adjudication.
Dali Temple thought that Xu Zun's statement was very strange, and Ayun must be hanged for murder and injury.
The matter ended here, but Xu Zun believed that he was right and that Dali Temple was wrong, so he directly reported the lawsuit to the officials.
But the Court of Justice and Dali Temple insisted that they were right.
The officials left the matter to the two systems for discussion.
Wang Anshi and Sima Guang came to different conclusions. Sima Guang believed that Ayun's crime was so heinous that he should be sentenced severely, but Wang Anshi supported Xu Zun and believed that he should have a reduced sentence.
Therefore, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang had their first disagreement at the meeting of ministers of the two systems, and they each reported to the officials afterwards.
After the officials saw Wang Anshi and Sima Guang's visit, they also asked Zhang Yue, who was waiting for him.
Zhang Yue said truthfully: "I have never served as a criminal judge, and I am not very familiar with criminal matters."
The official said: "It's okay for you to speak frankly, but Wang Xueshi has been in the local area for many years and should be familiar with criminal laws. You see why this case is so simple, but my two ministers have completely opposite opinions."
Zhang Yue said: "Reporting to your Majesty, behind the case is actually a dispute over cautious punishment and heavy punishment."
"For hundreds of years, officials have decided cases according to Sima Guang's proposal. Murdering a husband violates the general ethics and should be punished severely, even during the mourning period. Because when people marry a wife, they first make an engagement, and as for the marriage But if it is done after the funeral period, although it violates some minor etiquette, it is not a big obstacle. It is said that punishment is not good for officials and etiquette is not good for common people. How can everyone be able to fulfill the etiquette of common people? But husband and wife are husband and wife, and human ethics are always important. Don’t harm the great festival.”
The official nodded.
Zhang Yue added: "However, what Wang Anshi said makes sense. The punishments imposed by this dynasty on the common people are always too harsh. It is common practice to send someone to exile for a crime, and to rob and steal 3,000 yuan will lead to death! Under heavy taxation and heavy labor, the people must be punished even more severely." With torture and oppression, it’s no wonder that refugees and bandits continue to happen.”
The official nodded when he heard this and said, "What Zhang Qing said is the truth!"
"Before, Sima Guang opposed the immunity from service law. I thought you were angry in your heart. Now it seems that you are truly a gentleman."
Yes, although Zhang Yue was a little angry at being blocked by Sima Guang because of the immunity law, this time he did not criticize Sima Guang for supporting Wang Anshi.
Therefore, you must try to be objective when dealing with the emperor, so that you can always maintain the trust of the officials in you.
Facing the Ayun case, the officials did not make a clear stance this time, leaving it to them to argue first.
However, in this dispute between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, Han Wei and Lu Gongzhu in the Academy of Sciences firmly supported Wang Anshi. This has changed from the past situation where Sima Guang was one-sided in the court and could call the shots.
Finally someone can stand up and challenge Sima Guang.
Sometimes your best friend turns out to be your worst enemy!
After Sima Guang retired from the court that day, he met Lu Hui, the deputy envoy of Yantie.
Lu Jie said to Sima Guang: "Jun Shi, I plan to impeach Wang Jiefu."
Sima Guang became pale when he heard this and said, "Xianke, what does this mean? There is nothing wrong with Jiefu."
Lu Huidao said: "When I worked with Junshi in the Admonition Court, I knew that you and Jiefu were sworn friends. He was not a treacherous person. However, Tang Zifang (Tang Jie) had already said this. People like to learn from the ancient times and like to make far-reaching opinions. Now it seems that in the Ayun case, this person likes to adapt and innovate. He is a person who ignores his superiors and bullies his subordinates. He is a person who pretends to be wrong in classical Chinese. It will be this person who will harm the people in the future. With him in the court, There is no reason for peace in the world!"
"Junshi, do you see the same thing as me?"
Lu Jie asked Sima Guang.
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