Ouyang Xiu has been in a bad mood recently. Since the New Deal was implemented, Ouyang Xiu thought he could show off his skills and become one of the central ministers. For this reason, he made a major choice and even gave up his strategy of following Yan Shu closely.
He did not hesitate to waste the good relationship established between Su Jin and Yan Shu for a long time.
Of course, this cannot be completely blamed on Ouyang Xiu for climbing a new branch. The New Deal is the general trend, but Yan Shu has a disapproval attitude towards this. Of course, he cannot follow Yan Shu's footsteps. What he can't understand is Su Jin's attitude. He thought he was a firm believer in reform.
Supporters, but they did not expect that when the four giants came to invite them, they were all frustrated. Su Jin's attitude was actually to oppose this radical reform and persuade them to slow down the implementation.
Ouyang Xiu could not wait any longer. He had been wandering around the court for more than ten years. His official position was big or small, but he had never been able to enter the core of power. In the past, he relied on impeaching officials to find a sense of presence in the court. As he got older,
With the growth of power, Ouyang Xiu increasingly felt that that method was definitely not the right way; to truly become a core member of power, one could only accomplish one big thing, and this new deal was the best opportunity.
In view of this, he resolutely joined the camp of the new upstarts in the court, Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others, to advise them, and led the admonishers to carry out rounds of verbal and written attacks on officials who opposed the New Deal. Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others also became more and more hostile to Ouyang Xiu.
The more he relied on him, he would consult him on everything, which gave Ouyang Xiu a great sense of satisfaction.
In fact, Ouyang Xiu didn't have much idea about the pros and cons of the New Deal itself. On the contrary, he somewhat agreed with Su Jin's statement. With the implementation of the New Deal, this feeling became stronger and stronger. Officials from all over the country issued memorials and joint letters.
Even the deposed officials' threats to death and even the conspiracy behind the scenes made him feel that the new administration was being implemented too quickly and the counter-pressure was huge.[
Looking inside and outside the imperial court, there were only a few who supported the New Deal, most of them opposed it, and some were just waiting and watching. When the fire of the New Deal burned on the heads of Beijing officials, many old ministers did not hesitate to kneel down outside the palace gate to put pressure on the emperor.
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But Ouyang Xiu doesn't care about this. Behind them is Zhao Zhen. As long as Zhao Zhen supports it, the New Deal will definitely go forward. No matter how others oppose it, no matter how much criticism is made inside and outside the government, with the support of the emperor, you don't care about anything. This is the biggest
In fact, this is the ultimate reason why Ouyang Xiu chose to actively implement the New Deal together with Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others.
To put it bluntly, it is better to figure out the Holy Will and do what the Emperor wants to do than to hug anyone else's lap.
However, a series of recent events have made Ouyang Xiu feel very angry, and other things aside, the most important thing is that the emperor's attitude seems to have changed. In the past, he would always summon Han Fanfubi and himself after every court, and mildly inquire about the progress and progress of the New Deal.
Comments from the outside world, and occasionally words of comfort, helped to draw attention, but since the end of the year, Zhao Zhen's distant attitude has become extremely obvious.
Ouyang Xiu privately analyzed the reason and believed that the case of Shi Jie and Fu Bi aroused the emperor's wariness. After all, it involved treason, which was the most taboo for the emperor. When the case was not solved, it was human nature to stay distant.
However, this morning at court, Zhao Zhen announced the case evidence provided by Su Jin and announced that the case had been solved. Someone forged Shi Jie's letter to frame Fu Bi, and gave Fu Bi a few words of comfort; but then Fan Zhongyan put forward several memorials related to the New Deal.
However, the proposals were still rejected one by one. Zhao Zhen said that he wanted them to consider them more carefully, but everyone could see that Zhao Zhen was not interested in these proposals. On the contrary, Qian Mingyi, the admonishment court, proposed to target someone in the court.
The memorial of forming cronies and fighting against dissidents seemed extremely interesting, and ordered all officials to reflect on themselves, with an extremely stern tone.
Ouyang Xiu was extremely disappointed. Everything was reversing in the direction he did not want. The emperor's attitude was enough to explain everything, and his dream of taking advantage of the New Deal to enter the core position seemed to be out of reach.
Ouyang Xiu got off the carriage and returned to his residence with a sullen face. The official Lao He came up to say hello, and then helped Ouyang Xiu hold his official hat and court, and accompanied Ouyang Xiu to the inner hall.
"Sir, the fragrant cakes in the flower hall have been burned. Go in and warm yourself up. I ordered someone to cook some wheat porridge for you. You didn't have breakfast this morning, so you should rest your stomach now."
Ouyang Xiu sighed: "Where's the appetite? Will anyone come to visit me in the morning?"
This is something Ouyang Xiu often asks recently. Since he became a prominent figure in the new government, he has had constant visitors at home, which makes Ouyang Xiu feel a bit powerful. However, the family has been neglected recently. These people have extremely sensitive sense of smell and seem to have smelled something.
No matter what, I don’t want to come.
"This... not really." Lao He naturally understood what his master was thinking. Seeing the disappointment on Ouyang Xiu's face, he hurriedly added: "But someone sent a letter. It was a servant dressed as a servant, asking who he was.
He didn't answer, but asked the master to see it in person.
"Oh? Where is the letter?" Ouyang Xiu asked.
"It's in the study. I'll go get it." Lao He walked away.
"No need, I'll go to the study. You can just order someone to light the fragrant cakes in the study."
"Yes!" Lao He hurriedly went to make arrangements.
Ouyang Xiu wiped his face with hot water under the service of the maid, changed into casual clothes and went to the study. The study was already fragrant and warm, and it was extremely comfortable. Su Ji Baoshan Fragrant Cake is indeed a good thing. It is as fragrant as this winter.
It was quite difficult to eat cakes. Although Su Jin and he had different political views, he still couldn't bear to refuse the more than 100 kilograms of fragrant cakes he gave to her. In any case, she was still friends with him, and Su Jin didn't forget it.
own.
The letter was placed on the desk. Ouyang Xiu reached out and picked it up, looking over it twice. There was no money or writing on the envelope, so he couldn't tell who had left it.
"Who is so sneaky? Do you want to imitate other people's conspiracy and write a letter of conspiracy to frame me?" Ouyang Xiu sneered and tore the seal and said to himself: "Why should I be afraid of these little tricks?" [
He took out the letter and unfolded it. The content of the letter was extremely concise. Ouyang Xiu quickly read the letter in less than a few dozen breaths, and his face turned livid. This letter was obviously written by an official, and
He is a trusted minister of the emperor. The content of the letter is a secret conversation between the emperor and the writer, about the clique between the DPRK and China.
It can be seen from the letter that the emperor attaches more importance to the matter of cronyism than he imagined, and the words in it are quite harsh. It is conceivable that the emperor is afraid of the chaos caused by cronyism in his heart.
The last suggestion of the letter writer is: Ouyang Zhongcheng should tell all the gentlemen that the letter confesses himself and vetoes the fact that it is a clique. The Holy One is already quite wary of this. At this time, he must appease the Holy Spirit and quell the clique.
We must not go against the wind and make false statements or turn a blind eye. This is a top priority. Matters regarding the new policy will be postponed until the matter subsides before we can pursue it again. Sir, please be careful!
Ouyang Xiu sat down slumped, his mind went blank. If the matter was as serious as what the letter said, it would mean that not only would the new political law continue, but he, Fan Zhongyan and others would also have to criticize and self-criticize. The letter clearly stated
Having said that, the so-called cronies in North Korea and China refer to Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fu Bi, himself and several other officials. In other words, this unhealthy trend is directed at himself and others.
What should I do? How authentic is this letter? Do the people who wrote the letter mean well or maliciously? Will the emperor make a fuss about them and treat them as cronies and the source of trouble for the court? How should I face it?
Right? Many questions came one after another, filling Ouyang Xiu's frustrated head.
After sitting for a long time, Ouyang Xiu picked up the letter and read it carefully several times. When he saw the sentence "New Deal matters are postponed," Ouyang Xiu jumped up and thought with a sneer: "I almost got deceived. This must be someone's trick."
, if one plan fails, another will come up, if force fails, this is a plan to attack the heart; Mr. Fan, Mr. Han, and we are implementing the new policy under the orders of the emperor, how can the emperor be afraid of us and like-minded people working together to discuss the new policy? This is an obvious provocation.
An act of alienation! The emperor asked about the pros and cons of cliques in court. Fan openly and honestly expressed his feelings, saying that as long as he was serving the country and the people, even if there were cliques, there was no need to make a fuss. The emperor did not express any anger at that time, which shows that the emperor acquiesced to Fan Gong's words.
, and now this inexplicable letter has popped up, its purpose is to make us delay the implementation of the new policy, it is really very deliberate."
Ouyang Xiu sneered several times, tore the letter to pieces with both hands and said angrily: "I won't let you get what you want. Not only that, I also want to write to the emperor to clarify the matter of cliques, so that no one will make a fuss about this again. I want to explain to the emperor."
It is clear that not all cronies are for the sake of harming the imperial court and the country. Yes, I, Ouyang Xiu, have become cronies with Mr. Fan, Mr. Han and others, but we are dedicated to serving the country. How can we do anything to bring harm to the country? "
Ouyang Xiu stood up suddenly, spread out the white paper, sharpened his ink and pen, and after a while, a eloquent "On Clique" appeared on the paper. Ouyang Xiu checked it several times, carefully put the mny's away, sandwiched it between the hard covers of the memorial, and called someone
Come and prepare your car to drive into the palace.