At that time, when Emperor Zhezong came to power, the first thing he did was to depose Empress Meng, whom Empress Dowager Xuanren personally selected and appointed officials to preside over the marriage.
Although Empress Meng was virtuous, she was chosen by Emperor Zhezong on their own initiative by two old ladies, Empress Dowager Xuanren and Empress Dowager Xiang. In addition, Empress Meng was 3 years older than Emperor Zhezong, so Emperor Zhezong did not like Empress Meng deep down.
Because Zhezong preferred the beauty Liu Jieyu to Queen Meng.
Liu Jieyu also sought the position of queen, so she took advantage of the fact that Emperor Zhezong liked her, and made trouble in every possible way to get Emperor Zhezong to depose Empress Meng and make herself the queen.
Emperor Zhezong also had this intention, so after a lot of trouble, he finally deposed Empress Meng and established Liu Jieyu as the new empress.
After finally completing this important task, it was time to show off his grand ambitions. Emperor Zhezong was deceived by Zhang Dun, Cai Jing and others, and the blame for the restoration of the conservative party was imposed on the Empress Dowager Xuanren.
The reason why the Empress Dowager Xuanren wanted to be framed was because, under the strong support of the Empress Dowager Xuanren, Sima Guang and other conservative ministers were employed to interrupt the implementation of the new law. This was one of the reasons; the second reason was because the Empress Dowager Xuanren The Queen Mother once protected Sima Guang and other conservative ministers, and when the palace general Zhang Dun was kicked out of the palace, he was demoted to Ruzhou as a local official. Zhang Dun had a grudge, and took advantage of Emperor Zhezong's mentality of also wanting to do something big, and took the opportunity to frame him. Queen Mother Xuanren.
Deceived by Zhang Dun and Cai Jing, Zhezong sent Cai Jing and Andun to personally interrogate Zhang Shiliang, the chamberlain, to get Zhang Shiliang to admit that Sima Guang and others had secretly communicated with the Empress Dowager Xuanren and conspired to depose Emperor Zhezong and install another Empress Dowager Xuanren. nephew.
Cai Jing and Zhang Dun were assigned by Zhezong to sit high in the hall, with cauldrons, woks, knives and saws beside them, and set up tight barriers, and then asked the Yamen to escort Zhang Shiliang.
Cai Jing and Zhang Dun, who were sitting high in the lobby, slapped the gavel tree loudly and shouted: "Zhang Shiliang! If you are willing to say a word, high-ranking officials can do it and horses can be ridden. The instruments of state law are here, have you seen these instruments of torture? We have no choice but to ask you to try them out."
How can you make up something that doesn't exist? ! In the lobby, Zhang Shiliang looked up to the sky and cried loudly. He said with tears in his eyes: "The conscience of heaven and earth! The Emperor and Queen Mother must not make false accusations, and the gods of heaven and earth must not be deceived! Shiliang would rather be punished or lose his life than confess falsely."
Cai Jing and An Dun pressed him repeatedly, but Zhang Shiliang refused to admit it until death. After all, he had no confession to make.
How can a case be finalized without evidence? Cai Jing naturally has a lot of ideas, but what that guy is best at is making things seem plausible and out of thin air.
Cai Jing and Zhang Dun found nothing in the interrogation of Zhang Shiliang, so they acted arbitrarily and made up some general stories even though there were no specific matters. They said some specious things, all in order to impose the guilt of the restoration on the Empress Dowager Xuanren. and then reported it to Emperor Zhezong.
Emperor Zhezong was so confused that he accepted the memorial and actually approved it.
Zhang Dun was good at drafting an imperial edict and submitted it to the imperial government to discuss deposing the Empress Dowager Xuanren as a commoner.
After receiving the edict drafted by Zhang Dun, Emperor Zhezong was displaying it under the lamp. Suddenly, a servant came into the palace and conveyed the order to the Queen Mother, telling Emperor Zhezong to enter the palace quickly and meet the Queen Mother.
When Zhezong heard about the Queen Mother's decree, he quickly put away the imperial edict that Zhang Dun was good at drafting and hid it in his sleeve. He accompanied his chamberlain and hurried to the palace to see the Queen Mother.
Emperor Zhezong met Empress Dowager Xiang, and Empress Dowager Xiang said to Emperor Zhezong: "I used to serve Empress Dowager Xuanren for a long time. How can there be any talk of abolishing it?! I had already gone to bed at this moment. Suddenly I heard this, I was so shocked that I called you here. Just think about it, the Empress Dowager Xuanren treated the emperor very well, how could she destroy you?! You! You are easily deceived by others, and you are so stupid in doing things!"
Zhezong was lectured speechless by Empress Dowager Xiang. He recalled that when Empress Dowager Xuanren was alive, although there were many inconsistencies in governance, she was indeed very good to herself. Emperor Zhezong felt remorseful, so he said goodbye to the Queen Mother and left the harem.
After Emperor Zhezong returned to the palace, he took out the imperial edict that Zhang Dun was good at drafting from his sleeve. The more he thought about it, the more regretful he became, so he burned the imperial edict that Zhang Dun was good at drafting on a lamp.
Zhang Dun's confidants saw this situation and went to sue Zhang Dun. When Zhang Dun heard the news, he felt resentful and angry.
Thinking that the Empress Dowager Xuanren had kicked him out from the palace, Zhang Dun felt dissatisfied, so he wrote another memorial all night, and submitted it to the court the next day, insisting that Emperor Zhezong would implement it, and he would definitely depose Empress Xuanren. The honorific title of the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager Xuanren was demoted to a commoner.
Emperor Zhezong took Zhang Dun's memorial and looked at it for a few times. The language in the memorial was very tough, without any respect, and seemed to imply that it was forbidden. Before Zhezong could finish reading, he was furious and shouted angrily: "It is an unforgivable crime to be bold and adept at drafting imperial edicts! Today they are pressing harder and harder. Don't you want me to enter the Yingzong Temple?"
After the scolding, Emperor Zhezong tore up the memorial and threw it on the ground, still angry.
Zhang Dun was so frightened when he saw Zhe Zong Long Yan was furious that he fled from the hall in embarrassment. From then on, he never dared to mention the abolition of the title of Empress Dowager Xuanren, so this incident was avoided.
Even so, Emperor Zhezong's determination for change remained unchanged, and he still reused Zhang Dun and Cai Jing, hoping that they would do something earth-shattering, so that the imperial court could wipe out the malaise in recent years and become stronger again. stand up.
However, within a few years, Emperor Zhezong fell ill and sadly passed away at the age of only twenty-five.
After the death of Emperor Zhezong, Emperor Huizong ascended the throne.
At this time, Minister Han Zhongyan first stated four things, namely: 1. It is advisable to be generous and kind, 2) it is advisable to open up a way for people to speak, 3) it is advisable to eliminate suspicions, and 4) it is advisable to refrain from using troops.
When Emperor Huizong heard the memorial, he thought it was right and praised it very much.
At this time, most of the conservative ministers such as Sima Guang died of illness. Han Zhongyan, a disciple of Sima Guang, was reused and dedicated to the old system.
Emperor Huizong also tended to relax and give the people time to recuperate, so he followed the old practice of dismissing Zhang Dun from the post of prime minister and demoting him to the rank of Shanling Envoy, escorting Emperor Zhezong's coffin to Yongtai Mausoleum.
It was also Zhang Dun's misfortune. On the way to escort Emperor Zhezong's coffin to Yongtai Mausoleum, Emperor Zhezong's coffin got stuck in the mud and could not get out. Therefore, he was delayed all night and could not leave until the next day.
When the conservatives learned of this situation, they rallied to attack him and wrote a memorial to express disrespect.
When the court was discussing Emperor Huizong's succession, Zhang Dun once said to the Queen Mother: "Prince Duan is frivolous and cannot rule the world." Huizong heard this and had already held a grudge in his heart. At this moment, he took this opportunity to simply kill Zhang Dun again. He was demoted to deputy envoy of Wuchang Jiedu and resettled in Tanzhou.
When Wang Anshi was the prime minister, Cai Jing became popular; after Wang Anshi's nemesis Sima Guang became the prime minister, Cai Jing was also popular; when Sima Guang's nemesis Zhang Dun became the prime minister, Cai Jing was still popular and could be said to be the roly-poly in the court; but this time it didn't work. , because he was attached to Zhang Dun, the ministers of the DPRK could not let him go, and a group of people impeached him. He was also removed from his post and deposed to live in Hangzhou.
Unfortunately, Cai Jing was very lucky. Not long after he was deposed and lived in Hangzhou, he was having nothing to do. When he was looking forward to the imperial court returning to his post, a boy who worshiped the official came and went south to buy calligraphy and painting toys.
Tong Guan, courtesy name Daofeng, was born in Kaifeng. When he was young, Tong Guan worked under the eunuch Li Xian. He was well-behaved, had a special eye, and was very good at getting things done, so he was highly praised by Li Xian. During the Zhezong Dynasty, after being introduced by Li Xian, Tong Guan entered the palace to serve. He was good at guessing the emperor's will, often made obedience in advance, and was deeply trusted by Emperor Zhezong. After Huizong came to the throne, he became more capable of sucking and licking hemorrhoids and became a popular figure around Emperor Huizong. Later, the imperial court set up the Jinming Bureau in Hangzhou, and Emperor Huizong ordered Tong Guan to be in charge of this matter as a minister. From then on, Tong Guan began to get acquainted and socialize with Cai Jing.
Tong Guan's mission during this trip was to purchase calligraphy and painting toys, and Cai Jing was a master in calligraphy and painting with profound academic attainments.
Cai Jing learned that Tong Guan was going to the south of the Yangtze River to buy paintings, calligraphy and playthings. Seeing an opportunity, he tried his best to curry favor with Tong Guan, sending money and gifts, and the two became close friends. At the same time, Cai Jing used his life's skills to deliberately process and carve the barrier fan ribbon, and commissioned Tong Guanjin to present it to Emperor Huizong to win his favor.
After Tong Guan returned to Beijing, he presented Cai Jing's calligraphy and paintings. Emperor Huizong was delighted when he saw it.
Cai Jing's calligraphy draws on the strengths of many other calligraphers and is self-contained. The calligraphy is charming, the calligraphy force is bold and vigorous, happy and calm, and has a unique style. Huizong liked it very much after seeing it and praised it as a divine pen!
Tong Guan took the opportunity to say: "Long live my emperor. I observe from my observation that Cai Jing is indeed a great talent. He should not leave it idle and bury his talents."
In addition, Tong Guan accepted Cai Jing's money and was short-handed. He had to deal with people on his behalf and bribed eunuchs and concubines. Everyone benefited. Naturally, everyone praised Cai Jing. He praised Cai Jing so much that Emperor Huizong thought Cai Jing was really powerful. Cai Jing was buried in the idle land, so Cai Jing was transferred to Beijing to serve as a Hanlin scholar.
Cai Jing was therefore reused by the imperial court.
At this time, it was the time when Zeng Bu and Han Zhongyan were appointed as prime ministers and deputy prime ministers.
Zeng Bu had some suspicions about Han Zhongyan. Seeing that Cai Jing was capable and talented, he recruited Cai Jing to join forces to deal with Han Zhongyan.
Unexpectedly, Cai Jing was so ambitious that he had already set his sights on Zeng Bu's position as prime minister. He secretly plotted to exclude Zeng Bu and Han Zhongyan. He wanted to have personal power, so he secretly cultivated his own power and used his brother Cai Bian to control it. He was appointed Minister of Rites in the imperial court.
Later, Cai Jing gathered a group of courtiers and felt confident, so he specifically opposed Zeng Bu. Cai Jing opposed all policy strategies proposed by Zeng Bu and thwarted Zeng Bu.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Zeng Bu felt extremely upset and regretted that he should have promoted Cai Jing. The top priority was to find a way to deal with Cai Jing's challenge.
Based on this, Zeng Bu also secretly cultivated his own power and made his in-law Chen Youfu the Minister of Household Affairs.
In order to make Emperor Huizong feel disgusted with Zeng Bu, Cai Jing deliberately played in the palace: "Jueluo is a public weapon of the country, so why should the prime minister be given to his relatives privately?"
When Zeng Bu heard this, he became furious and said loudly: "Jing and Bian are brothers, how can they be in the same dynasty? Although Youfu is my relative, he is qualified for the job, so there is no need to recommend him."
Cai Jing sneered when he heard this and said sarcastically: "I'm afraid he may not be talented, right? Who knows!"
Seeing Cai Jing's weird look, Zeng Bu became even more angry. He completely lost his dignity, jumped up and roared: "Cai Jing uses the heart of a villain to judge the heart of a gentleman. How can you see that Youfu has no talent?!"
Han Zhongyan was angry because he was ostracized by Zeng Bu. At this moment, he also took the opportunity to accuse Zeng Bu and said: "Zeng Bu, how dare you be so presumptuous in front of the emperor! Swearing like a shrew, it is simply unseemly! Do you still have the emperor in your eyes?" !”
Zeng Bu became even more angry after hearing this, and yelled at Han Zhongyan again. Emperor Huizong was so angry that he resigned from the court, and other ministers also dispersed.
Zeng Bu had no choice but to go out angrily.
The next day, Emperor Huizong issued an order to demote Zeng Bu to Youkui and promote Cai Jing to prime minister.
This is the first time Cai Jing has served as prime minister.
