Cai Bian was implicated in Zhang Huaisu's incident and was demoted. Cai Bian was replaced by Zhang Kangguo. Zhang Kangguo was promoted from Shangshu Zuocheng to the Privy Council. He was of equal rank to Cai Jing. The two men competed for power and refused to give in to each other. Their relationship was extremely tense.
After being promoted to the Privy Council, Zhang Kangguo would inevitably slander Cai Jing every time he went to court or became Emperor Huizong.
After careful observation, Emperor Huizong also discovered that although Cai Jing was respectful and respectful to him since he returned to the throne, he was domineering and domineering in the court, forming cliques for personal gain, and engaging in gang affairs. If you go with it, you will prosper, and if you go against it, you will prosper. The death of Cai Jing caused all the ministers in the court to complain and have many discords, so they deliberately tried to suppress Cai Jing so that he would not be too arrogant. Therefore, after Zhang Kangguo finished slandering Cai Jing, Emperor Huizong secretly told Zhang Kangguo: "You must do your best and become the prime minister of Beijing."
With Emperor Huizong's promise, how could Zhang Kangguo not be overjoyed? Therefore, he kept his eyes wide open and secretly watched Cai Jing's whereabouts all day long, hoping to catch Cai Jing forming a party for personal gain and disrupting the court.
After Cai Jing returned to the prime minister, although he was cautious in front of Emperor Huizong, Cai Jing was a traitor after all. It would be impossible for him to do everything without getting his own way. Therefore, behind Emperor Huizong's back, Cai Jing often did some unscrupulous things and was often criticized. Zhang Kangguo peeked.
Zhang Kangguo heard a little about Cai Jing's unruly behavior and immediately reported it secretly. Therefore, although Cai Jing pretended to be very humble in front of Huizong, Cai Jing's whereabouts were all under the control of Emperor Huizong.
Cai Jing was also a person with a sensitive personality. Through many observations, he also noticed Zhang Kangguo's behavior, so he recommended Wu Yanling to Emperor Huizong as the Zhongcheng. Emperor Huizong didn't know Cai Jing's intention, so he activated Wu Yanling and appointed him as the central inheritor.
Wu Yanling was promoted by Cai Jing, so Cai Jing was the only one who followed suit. Cai Jing secretly told Wu Yanling that if there is a chance, no matter whether it is present or not, just impeach Zhang Kangguo. If Zhang Kangguo is brought down, I will recommend you to serve as a Privy Council member.
Wu Yanling was tempted by this, how could he not try his best? ! Therefore, he was very enthusiastic about the impeachment of Zhang Kangguo.
One day, after Cai Jing conspired with Wu Yanling, he found a reason and decided to let Wu Yanling enter the palace to impeach Zhang Kangguo to Emperor Huizong.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Kangguo learned of this news in advance.
Zhang Kangguo received this news and knew that Wu Yanling was about to enter the palace to impeach him, so he entered the palace before Wu Yanling, knelt down in front of Emperor Huizong, and said with tears: "Your Majesty, I am deeply favored by the emperor. I was given an important task and devoted myself to opposing traitors, but unexpectedly offended Cai Jing, Wu Yanling and others. Cai Jing and Wu Yanling hated me to the core, fabricated right and wrong, and wanted to put me to death."
Emperor Huizong saw this and asked Zhang Kangguo: "Is there such a thing?"
Zhang Kangguo bowed his head and said with tears: "Your Majesty, everything I said is true and absolutely not false. According to my guess, Wu Yanling will definitely enter the palace in a short while, and he will definitely argue for me on behalf of the capital. Your Majesty, I would like to avoid it. In this position, I will resign and return to my hometown to avoid being resented by the capital and causing trouble to the Holy One."
Emperor Huizong heard this and said: "Will such a thing happen again?! Please get up, don't be afraid, let alone worry too much, don't give in to Cai Jing, Wu Yanling and others. I have my own opinion in everything. Is it possible that this Song Dynasty leader The imperial court belongs to Cai Jing and Wu Yanling?! What a weird thing!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Kangguo got up, secretly proud of himself, bowed to Emperor Huizong and bowed again, resigned from the palace, and hid in the palace pavilion, waiting for Wu Yanling to come to impeach him.
Cai Jing and Wu Yanling were unaware of this situation. Wu Yanling, under the command of Cai Jing, was confident of victory and wanted to enter the palace to meet Emperor Huizong and impeach Zhang Kangguo.
Sure enough, not long after Zhang Kangguo hid in the palace, Wu Yanling came to the palace to meet Emperor Huizong.
Emperor Huizong was shocked when he saw that Wu Yanling had indeed entered the palace to pay his respects.
Wu Yanling knelt down and kowtowed. Emperor Huizong concealed his surprise and let Wu Yanling recover.
After Wu Yan Lingping died, he bowed to Emperor Huizong and began to slander Zhang Kangguo. One, two, three, four, A, B, B, D, listed various things and pointed out Zhang Kangguo's faults.
At this point, Emperor Huizong knew clearly that Wu Yanling was indeed ordered by Cai Jing to come specifically to make things difficult for Zhang Kangguo.
Emperor Huizong was furious. He didn't wait for Wu Yanling to finish what he said. He got angry and glared at Wu Yanling and said: "Wu Yanling! Do you dare to be instigated by others and slander me?! I think you have evil intentions and form cliques. You are not worthy of joining the party and attacking those who are different." Mr. Zhongcheng, please get out of here!"
Emperor Huizong suddenly became angry, which really frightened Wu Yanling. Wu Yanling was baffled by Emperor Huizong's sudden anger and could not understand why Emperor Huizong was so angry.
On the spot, Wu Yanling was scolded by Huizong until his head was bleeding. He was so ashamed that he lay on the ground, kowtowed three times, then got up and left the palace in despair.
That night, Emperor Huizong was still angry, and immediately issued an edict, severely condemning Wu Yanling, dismissed Wu Yanling from the post of Zhongcheng, drove him out of the capital, and served as the prefect of Chuzhou.
When Cai Jing learned of this situation and knew that Zhang Kangguo was causing trouble, he gritted his teeth with hatred and secretly made up his mind to trap Zhang Kangguo to death.
After this incident happened, Zhang Kangguo also knew in his heart that he had completely offended Cai Jing this time. Cai Jing was the one who must be punished, and he would definitely have trouble with him, and he would definitely look for opportunities to cause trouble for him. For this reason, Zhang Kangguo was very careful in everything he did and took precautions to avoid being framed by Cai Jing.
One day, Zhang Kangguo entered the court. Nothing happened for a while, so he retreated to the palace and took a rest. In the palace hut, Zhang Kangguo drank a cup of tea because he was thirsty. After a while, Zhang Kangguo felt severe pain in his stomach, which made Zhang Kangguo scream wildly. Within half an hour, Zhang Kangguo's voice gradually became quieter. He was already looking up to the sky and sticking out his tongue, and his asthma continued.
The servants in the palace hall panicked when they saw this situation, and hurriedly carried Zhang Kangguo to Shilu Courtyard. As soon as they entered the room, Zhang Kangguo's eyes widened, and he was so sad that his life was over.
The sudden death in Zhang Kangguo's palace was immediately reported to the palace.
When Emperor Huizong heard the report, he was greatly surprised. Emperor Huizong was full of doubts about the cause of Zhang Kangguo's death, and suspected that Cai Jing was responsible. However, because there was no conclusive evidence, Emperor Huizong was reluctant to reveal it for a while, so he had to give Zhang Kangguo special preferential treatment and call it a day.
The sudden death of Zhang Kangguo made Emperor Huizong even more suspicious of Cai Jing. In order to curb the arrogance of suppressing Cai Jing and his associates, Huizong promoted Zheng Juzhong to take over the post of Zhang Kangguo and take charge of the Privy Council.
After Zheng Juzhong entered the Privy Council, he resented Cai Jing for not repaying his kindness and not helping him, so he became more vigorous in opposing Cai Jing and often secretly sent some remonstrators to impeach Cai Jing.
Some admonishers in the court were responsible for their duties, but they were also jealous of Cai Jing's rise to power, and hated Cai Jing's domineering attitude. Since they were entrusted by Zheng Juzhong, they continued to participate in the performance, showing Cai Jing's arrogance, arrogance, and domineering attitude. The party members are united and opposed, and they form cliques for personal gain. I petition to remove Cai Jing from the post of prime minister.
It's a pity that the memorials flew towards Emperor Huizong like snowflakes, but there was no movement from Emperor Huizong for a long time.
The reason why Emperor Huizong did not approve the dismissal of Cai Jing as prime minister was because in Emperor Huizong's mind, Cai Jing was talented and capable. Although he was domineering and his party was against dissidents, he could still get things done, especially major and foreign affairs.
There will be no movement regarding the removal of Cai Jing. Seeing this, Zheng Juzhong was very anxious. He spent the whole day thinking about how to squeeze out Cai Jing, and suddenly he thought of Guo Tianxin. Zheng Juzhong was overjoyed and rushed to prepare generous gifts. He visited Guo Tianxin all night long and secretly manipulated Guo Tianxin, asking him to act secretly.
Who is Guo Tianxin?
Guo Tianxin, courtesy name Youzhi, was born in Kaifeng. He was affiliated with the Taishi Bureau with his skills. He was good at yin and yang and knew astronomy.
It is said that when Emperor Huizong was still King Duan, he retired from the court and met Guo Tianxin. Guo Tianxin rushed to Zhao Ji's side, looked around, and said to Zhao Ji mysteriously: "King Duan, the secret must not be leaked. I dare not hide it in front of the true king. If you have important matters to tell me, I will tell you."
Seeing Guo Tianxin's mysterious look, Zhao Ji felt curious, so he stopped and asked Guo Tianxin quietly: "Master, what do you want to tell me?"
Guo Tianxin stretched out his mouth and aimed it at Zhao Ji's ear. Zhao Ji felt a little disgusted, but he wanted to listen to what he had to say, so he kept his ears open and did not evade.
Guo Tianxin said into Zhao Ji's ear: "Prince Duan, in the near future, you will rule the world."
Zhao Ji was shocked and hurriedly scolded Guo Tianxin not to talk nonsense.
Sure enough, not long after, Emperor Zhezong died, and Duan Wang Zhao Ji succeeded to the throne and became Song Huizong.
Zhao Ji, who became Emperor Huizong, remembered what Guo Tianxin said to him not long ago and felt deeply miraculous, so he trusted Guo Tianxin very much, and the two had a close personal relationship.
Guo Tianxin accepted Zheng Juzhong's generous gift and followed his plan to exclude Cai Jing from the court.
One day, Guo Tianxin went into the palace to see Huizong, and said in a dignified manner: "Your Majesty, I am observing the sky and there are sunspots in the sun. This is a sign that the prime minister is deceiving the emperor. You should be on guard early."
Last time, Guo Tianxin said that Huizong would rule the world, and then he actually ruled the world. Therefore, Huizong trusted Guo Tianxin very much.
This time, Guo Tianxin once again said that there were sunspots in the sun, which was a sign that the prime minister was deceiving the emperor. Naturally, Emperor Huizong believed it deeply.
Guo Tianxin's so-called prime minister is naturally Cai Jing.
The next day, Huizong ascended to the palace, dismissed Cai Jing as prime minister, demoted him to Taiyi Palace Envoy again, and changed his title to Duke of Chu. He was only allowed to enter the court on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month.
Immediately afterwards, several ministers impeached Cai Jing for his misconduct and disloyalty, listing dozens of matters. Therefore, Emperor Huizong demoted Cai Jing to the title of Prince Shaobao and deposed him to live in Hangzhou.
This is the second time Cai Jing has been dismissed as prime minister.
