In November of the fifth year of Jingyou's reign, when the Song Dynasty was still rejoicing over the birth of the prince, there was a great earthquake in Hedong, Xindai, and Bingzhou. Many houses collapsed, and only Xinzhou lost 19,700 lives. More than a hundred people were injured, more than 5,000 people were injured, and more than 50,000 livestock were killed.
Since that day, earthquakes have continued in the Hedong area year after year. Officials from the local state government reported that the ground was cracking and springs were gushing out. In some places, black sand-like flames were sprayed out. The earthquakes occurred four or five times a day. People slept in the wild, traffic was blocked, and the victims suffered from hunger and cold.
Such natural disasters occurred just after the prince was born. Many people privately said that this was caused by the poor moral conduct of the Heavenly Family. Some also speculated that the prince might be punished by heaven when he was born.
Fortunately, this was the Song Dynasty with an open atmosphere. In other dynasties, these people would have been dragged out and beaten many times.
But some people in the court were already taking advantage of this opportunity to make plans. Today, Ye An had just entered the gate of the Imperial City Division. Liu Yong pulled him mysteriously and said: "Has Ye Hou heard about it? Song Qi, Han Qi, Su Shunqin, Ye Qingchen, Zhang Fangping, Zhang Guan and others all wrote to the public, promoted their opinions, criticized current affairs, and demanded that the court change its course, abolish the old laws and introduce new ones!"
Ye An raised his eyebrows. These people were almost all friends of Fan Zhongyan or supporters of the reform. Their actions meant that the reform of the Song Dynasty was about to begin.
"Prime Minister Lu, what did the Prime Minister say?" The Imperial City Secretary was the most sensitive to the trends in the court. Ye An naturally had to understand the attitude of the prime minister at that time. Not only Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng, but also other people involved in political affairs and planning the prime minister. manner.
The reform of the Song Dynasty was about to begin, and this was even the time of the dynasty's reform. Who knew that Liu Yong smiled bitterly and said: "Xianggong Wang has not been doing well recently, his condition has worsened, and he has no time to take care of the affairs of the court. As for Prime Minister Lu I think it is too hasty. Although the current dynasty has shortcomings, it does not threaten the overall situation and needs to be dealt with slowly."
Ye An knew that such a result would occur. In fact, it is not difficult to guess that the scholar-bureaucrats in the court are all civil servants and follow etiquette and law. Whenever natural or man-made disasters come, it must be a failure of moral governance. At this time, remonstrance is the best opportunity. A stable emperor would adopt some reform suggestions.
For Zhao Zhen, it is better to have inappropriate policies and reforms than others to associate disasters with the newly born prince.
Of course Ye An understands Zhao Zhen's thoughts and does not think Fan Zhongyan's approach is a bad thing. Now Song Qi, Han Qi, Su Shunqin and others follow his lead, and it is natural to lay the foundation for reform.
As long as Zhao Zhen relents, it will not be difficult to implement reforms. As for Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Zhang Shixun and other conservative veterans, I am afraid they are unwilling to implement reforms.
Sure enough, Ye An, who was handling official affairs in the palace, soon received the news. Cao Li from the Imperial City Department held up the imperial residence and reported: "Report to the Marquis, Dali judge, supervising the housekeeper Su Shunqin Yigui Tongshu in the capital store: "I heard that there was a big earthquake in the east of Hedong, which lasted for ten days. At the beginning of Meng Chun, thunder and lightning broke out. He thought that the country was in danger, and no ministers dared to speak for His Majesty. Only Tian Dingning came to tell His Majesty. Your Majesty was able to invent the imperial edict at once, and all the ministers agreed. When I first heard the words, I was very happy and excited! Those who had a lot to say in the past ten days, how could it be that they were not ill at the time? But they did not hear that the imperial court held a meeting, so they also accepted empty words without any actual results. It was a sneak peek that the rules and regulations were corrupted. , There are so many things about the failure of political transformation that it is impossible to enumerate them. I would like to note two things that are important. The first is to have a correct mind, and the second is to select talents..."
Ye An watched it from beginning to end, and for a moment he didn't know what he meant.
In the memorial, he suggested that Zhao Zhen should use Zhang Guan as the censor and chief minister in the palace, and Gao Ruona as the admonisher. One is a conservative minister, and the other is the minister who is best at protecting himself. There is no need to reuse these two people!
Fan Zhongyan was demoted that year, and Ouyang Xiu wrote a letter to condemn Gao Ruona. Gao Ruona was so angry that he even demoted Ouyang Xiu to repair the mausoleum.
After further checking Su Shunqin's past in detail, we discovered that Gao Ruona had been kind to him. Was this a backhand request for an official position for his benefactor?
But Su Shunqin was a well-known gentleman, how could he do such a thing?
Puzzled for a moment, he sent someone to investigate again, but Liu Yong went into the house to drink tea. After learning about Ye An's doubts, he smiled and said: "Gao Ruona is not a gentleman. He wants to advance as an official, and he can do it by any means.
As for Su Shunqin, he is a true gentleman, but he is also too much of a gentleman and is not good at adapting. He may be taken advantage of by others..."
Ye An had no choice but to smile bitterly: "I thought Su Shunqin was a smart man, but I didn't expect that his cleverness would be mistaken for him."
Liu Yong came over to give Ye An some tea and asked in a low voice: "In the opinion of the Marquis, is it possible for Su Shunqin and others to push for official reforms in government affairs?"
Ye An picked up the tea cup and looked at Liu Yong with a smile: "I, the Imperial City Secretary, don't care about this. I just want to know its dynamics, but you are quite concerned!"
Liu Yong's face turned red and he said awkwardly: "Literati have many ambitions, so they hope that the imperial court will introduce new ideas and reform bad policies."
Ye An put down the tea cup, shook his head slightly and said, "I'm afraid it won't work at this point. There are too many conservative people, and they are all veterans and important officials. Even if the officials are willing to reform, it may be difficult to implement it."
These words touched a sore point, Liu Yong nodded helplessly and said: "Even Marquis Ye sees it this way, it may not be easy to implement the New Deal."
"Only Fan Zhongyan can sit on the position of prime minister and implement the New Deal!" Ye An just said with emotion, but Liu Yong greatly agreed: "What the Marquis said is absolutely true! Although Fan Gong was demoted again, he still remained in office.
Everyone knows his talent and will naturally use it again!"
Ye An raised his eyebrows and glanced at Liu Yong. Unexpectedly, he also admired Fan Zhongyan so much. It seemed that Lao Fan's reputation in the court was rising rapidly. Even Lu Yong, who demoted him, praised Fan Zhongyan's talents and conduct.
While the two were talking, the door of the public house was pushed open. This was the security room where Ye An was staying. No one was allowed to break in unless it was necessary. Moreover, the concierge guarding the door came...
"Ye...hou, Yehou...Wang, Wang Xianggong...died of illness!" Before Liu Yong could scold him, the concierge gasped and told the bad news.
Ye An and Liu Yong looked at each other, their eyes full of shock. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Wang Zeng actually passed away. If Wang Zeng died in an ordinary year, it could only be regarded as the death of an old minister of the Song Dynasty, but now it is
There was a great earthquake in Hedong, and Wang Zeng died of illness, which led to the decline of the dynasty.
What's more, Wang Zeng's status in the court was also not low, and his death would definitely cause shock to both the government and the public.
Ye An hurriedly went out. In any case, Wang Zeng had been kind to him, and the relationship between the Yunzhong County Marquis Mansion and the Wang family was also good. At this time, it was necessary to go home quickly and let people prepare things for worship, and at the same time also
You need to put on plain clothes, plain clothes, plain clothes, and plain crown, all made of white linen, to express your grief.
Liu Yong looked at Ye An who was in a hurry and hesitated to speak. When he saw that he was about to leave, he coughed dryly and said: "Ye Hou stays, you can't be too impatient at this time. At most, you are just a junior student.
Just feel sad."
Ye An shook off the sleeves of his official uniform and said: "You don't understand. At this time, I can really treat each other as relatives and friends. The relationship between the Wang family and my family is not alienated. Mr. Wang and his brothers have helped me."
, the power of enlightenment, now that the prince has passed away, how can I not go? Not to mention me, even the civil and military officials of the DPRK and China need to go to express their condolences!"