After three dynasties and many ups and downs, in the Huizong Dynasty, Cai Jing finally became prime minister for the first time and achieved his ultimate goal in life.
After serving as Prime Minister, Cai Jing flattered Emperor Huizong, tried to figure out Emperor Huizong's temperament and thoughts, and gradually figured out the thoughts of Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji.
Cai Jing discovered that, on the surface, Emperor Huizong was suave, rich in artistic talent, and seemed a bit dissolute in his behavior; in fact, deep down, he had a strong sense of self-improvement and the great ideal of rebuilding the glory of the Song Dynasty, and wanted to regain it. Wang Anshi's new law achieved the goal of strengthening the country and enriching the people, and thus became a generation of wise kings with outstanding talents and eternal achievements.
As far as Emperor Huizong's personal situation is concerned, this is indeed the case. From the time he succeeded to the throne, he had two dreams in his heart. The first dream is to regain the territory of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that was ceded to the Khitan by Shi Jingtang during the Later Jin Dynasty; the second dream is to build a prosperous and powerful Song Dynasty with a developed economy. However, Emperor Huizong's biggest shortcoming was that he had poor eyesight and could not distinguish between true and false loyalties. Just think about it, for an emperor who can appoint Cai Jing as his prime minister, can Cai Jing make him a wise king through the ages? This is impossible!
At that time, Cai Jing understood Emperor Huizong's temperament and thoughts; therefore, while others were still confused, he once again vigorously implemented Wang Anshi's new method.
Sure enough, Cai Jing's vigorous promotion of the new law catered to Emperor Huizong's desire to achieve a great cause for eternity, and was highly praised by Emperor Huizong. As a result, Cai Jing became a favorite in Huizong's eyes.
This all depends on Cai Jing being good at summarizing experience.
Since becoming Prime Minister, Cai Jing has summed up his experience and lessons from being demoted to Hangzhou before, believing that the reason why he was demoted to Hangzhou was because the image of the opposite party was too high, so that he had no effective counterattack under the attack of the opposite party. strength.
Cai Jing realized that if he wanted to remain in the position of prime minister for a long time, he had to establish a tall image and pretend to be upright.
How can Cai Jing establish his tall image? That is to find ways to belittle the opponent, discredit the opponent, and let the opponent's reputation be ruined and never be able to recover.
Cai Jing knew that only in this way could he establish his tall image and ensure that he would remain in the position of prime minister for a long time.
To this end, Cai Jing racked his brains to find a way. Finally, Cai Jing came up with a way to erect a "Monument to Yuanyou Party Members" at the entrance of the imperial palace and in front of the government offices of various states.
What is a "Monument to Yuanyou Party Members"?
To understand this situation, we must first explain what the so-called "Yuanyou" and "Yuanyou Party members" are. It turns out that the so-called "Yuanyou" is a reign name of Zhe Zong Dynasty, which was used for nine years in total. At that time, Emperor Zhezong had just succeeded to the throne and was only ten years old, so the Empress Dowager Xuanren presided over the government; the so-called "Yuanyou party members" were Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Fan Chunren, The "old party" led by Lu Gongzhu, Su Shi and others opposed Wang Anshi's reform.
Why should a monument be erected for Yuanyou Party members? This is not to commend the Yuanyou Party members, but to discredit the Yuanyou Party members and make their reputation tainted forever.
There were no newspapers in that era, and the red and black lists could not be published. Stone tablets were the traditional media at that time. On weekdays, people got information from the standing stone tablets.
After decades of struggle between the old and new parties, now that the new party is in power, it is natural to want to erect a monument for the old party that will make them infamy for thousands of years.
For this reason, Cai Jing encouraged Emperor Huizong to remove all the posthumous titles given to Sima Guang by Taishi, Wen Guogong, Wenzheng, etc., and also destroyed the stele in which Emperor Zhezong bestowed Sima Guang with "Loyalty to the Qing Dynasty and Pure Virtue". Colleagues are enemies, and a noodle seller cannot see a lime seller. As calligraphers, Su Shi is even better than Cai Jing in literature. Out of jealousy, Cai Jing destroyed all the steles written by Su Shi all over the country.
In fact, Su Shi is neither a member of the old party nor the new party, because in the dispute between the old and new parties, Su Shi only opposed things that were wrong, but strongly supported what was right; probably because Su Shi was so well-known in literature and The influence was too great and suppressed Cai Jing's limelight, so he suffered a disaster. In addition to the destruction of the stele on which he wrote, all the stele on which other people wrote his poems and articles were also destroyed by Cai Jing.
After destroying the monument that solemnly praised his virtues, Cai Jing erected a monument to Yuanyou Party members written by him and written by Emperor Huizong in front of Duanli Gate. Subsequently, Cai Jing sent an order to the various states and counties to summon craftsmen to copy the Yuanyou Party Monument written by him and personally written by Emperor Huizong in front of the Duanli Gate, and place it in front of the government offices of each state and county without any mistakes. Cai Jing also asked all states and counties to summon the best craftsmen to ensure that the handwriting of the imperial pen is original. Otherwise, it would be disrespectful, and the state and county officials and retired masons should be held accountable.
The purpose of Cai Jing's move is obvious, which is to let everyone in the world know that there is no good person in the Song Dynasty except Cai Jing, so that those who oppose him and his descendants will be infamous and will never be able to hold office again.
After receiving the order from the prime minister, the states and counties felt that it was unsightly and inappropriate to erect a black list in front of the state and county government offices. However, this was the order of Cai Jing, the prime minister of the day, and it was personally written by the emperor. How can it be violated? ! Therefore, although the states and counties felt that it was inappropriate, they had no choice but to carry out the plan against their will and were busy looking for famous local masons to carve a "Monument to the Yuanyou Party Members".
It is said that there was a stonemason in Chang'an Prefecture, named Anmin, who was particularly skilled in engraving tablets, so he was recruited by the Chang'an Prefecture's Yamen to work as an engraver.
Although Anmin was a lowly citizen, he was able to distinguish between loyal and traitorous people and knew who was good and who was bad.
Anmin was drafted by the government to work as an engraver. When he saw that the first name to be engraved on the traitor party monument was Sima Guang, he felt unhappy and did not want to erect the monument, so he hid back home with an excuse.
The Chang'an government official didn't know why Anmin hid back home. He was afraid that he would be held accountable by his superiors for delaying the engraving of the monument, so he repeatedly urged Anmin to go to the Chang'an government office to carve words on the stone tablet. Facing the government officials, Anmin declined with various excuses and refused to accept the job.
The government officials had no choice but to report the situation to the governor of Chang'an Prefecture.
When the governor of Chang'an Prefecture heard the report, he was very curious and thought to himself: Anmin is a stonemason, and engraving monuments is a job to make money. Others want to do it, but they can't do it because their skills are not good! He is just a humble citizen, relying on his craftsmanship to make a living. Since there is such a good thing, it is too late to be happy, so why dare you disobey the order? Refuse to accept the difference? ! Isn't this a strange thing!
In order to explore the reason, the governor of Chang'an Prefecture personally took several government officials to find Anmin and inquire about the reason.
When the governor of Chang'an Prefecture and his attendants came to Anmin's house, Anmin was sitting alone.
The yamen officer broke into the door and without explanation, twisted Anmin's arm, took Anmin out of the main room and escorted him to the governor.
The governor was afraid that Anmin would be frightened, so he quickly asked the government officials to let Anmin go.
Anmin knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the governor. After the ceremony, Anmin stood aside, waiting for the governor's lecture.
The governor glared and asked Anmin: "Anmin, you are a humble citizen. The government asked you to carve a monument to give you money, and it is not for nothing. Why don't you accept this job of making money? Do you want to Disobeying orders? You also know my master’s temper. If you make me anxious, I won’t spare you a slap in the face!”
Hearing this, Anmin knelt down on the ground again and replied: "Your Excellency, Governor, let me listen to what I have to say. Although I am stupid, I still understand the meaning of erecting a monument, which is to let everyone in the world know it." , the people on the monument are all traitors, so as to prevent them from corrupting the government."
When the government official heard this, he felt relieved and said, "Yes, that's exactly the truth. It seems you are not stupid, you understand the truth! Then why do you refuse to accept the mission?"
An Min continued: "Since the governor asked, the common people told the truth. If the common people understand the truth, they will naturally go and engrave it. However, the common people think that Sima Xianggong, Hongru University, generally known as upright in the country, is now accused of being a traitor, so he ordered The common people have no way of understanding it, so they cannot bear to engrave it."
When the governor heard what An Min said, he was furious and scolded An Min: "You know what a bird?! This monument was written by Cai Taishi at that time and personally written by the emperor. We ministers don't dare to disobey. You can do it alone." People who work as slaves, as long as they have money to earn, dare to disobey the court's orders?! They simply despise the law, have no respect for their superiors, commit crimes below, and act recklessly."
After saying that, he asked the government servant who was watching to get a big stick and beat An Min hard.
After hearing the order, the government officials picked up big sticks and beat Anmin.
Anmin was frightened after receiving several blows, so he knelt on the ground again and cried, "Governor, please spare my life. Since the governor asked me to carve a monument, I had no choice but to do it. However, I had something to say first, and something happened." Please, I hope the governor will grant me permission."
When the governor heard this, he was curious and thought, you are a humble citizen, what can you ask for from me, the governor? With this in mind, he said: "Anmin, what do you want from me? I don't allow you to put forward conditions for engraving words and erecting monuments. However, I am very curious after hearing what you said, so I give you permission to say so." ”
Anmin replied: "I beg you to beg me for help. I will engrave as I please, but you must not let me engrave my name on the stone."
Hearing this, the governor laughed angrily at Anmin's words, and coughed and gasped: "Anmin, Anmin, who do you think you are? You are just a country craftsman, rising to a lower level, you are nothing! You don't even have my name as an official. I can't engrave it on it. Your nickname has such a useful purpose, and you still want to put it on this monument. You are overestimating your ability! Go and engrave the monument quickly, don't make the master anxious and let the government officials We will serve you with great sticks.”
Seeing this, Anmin felt helpless and had no choice but to follow the governor and government officials to the gate of the mansion and carve a stone tablet on it.
For several days, Anmin felt sad and shed tears while carving words. In desperation, he reluctantly finished carving the stone tablet.
After the completion, Anmin faced the stone tablet, knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times, and left crying.
This Anmin is a conscientious craftsman.
This is an example, and the situation in other states and counties is similar.
Under Cai Jing's urging, "Monuments to Yuanyou Party Members" were erected in front of government offices in various states and counties one after another.
