At the end of May, the north gate of Dongchengmen Street in Bianjing.
Su Shi walked out of the imperial prison where he had been trapped for more than a hundred days.
Su Shi looked around casually and saw that Bianjing was still as prosperous and busy as before.
The breeze blew calmly on his face, but it had a sense of honor and disgrace. Su Shi actually enjoyed this feeling very much.
It seems that for him, life is originally a process of experience.
"elder brother!"
"Kusaburo!"
Looking at Su Che who came to pick him up, Su Shi held his younger brother in his arms.
Su Shi smiled and said: "Don't cry, Jiu Sanlang. Going in and out of prison is like a lifetime ago. The world has not changed because of someone, but someone has indeed taken on a new look."
Su Che shed tears when he heard this and said: "Brother, Su Mai and sister-in-law are waiting at home. Let's go home and rest first. We will talk about the rest later."
"That's fine, that's fine. But let's find a place to drink first. I'm greedy."
Su Che smiled and shook his head, and he and Su Shi immediately chose a wine shop to sit down.
Su Che ordered a glass of wine and a few ordinary side dishes.
Su Shi smiled and said: "Very good, very good."
Su Shi drank two jiao of wine, tasted every dish carefully, and ate with relish.
As soon as his face became a little rosy, he became interested in poetry. He immediately asked his shop companion to come and write a pen, and he wrote: "As soon as I stepped out, a whirlwind blew on my face, and magpies chirped in a walking horse couplet."
Su Shi felt that this poem was very well written. Although he was imprisoned once, his work did not improve. He was very happy and said to the wine set: "But the wine glass is like a dream, and the poem is like a god after trying it."
Why should we be held accountable for disasters? There is never any reason for stealing wealth."
"I have been tired of writing all my life, and my reputation will never get tired of going here. Even if I leave the fortress, I will return to another day's horse. There will be no young chicken fights in the east of the city."
After Su Shi recited the poem, he saw that Su Che was in a daze and said nothing.
"What's wrong?"
Su Che smiled bitterly and said: "Brother, you still can't change your habit of talking nonsense, otherwise the censor will not let you go based on the poem you just made."
Su Shi was stunned for a moment and didn't know why. Su Che then said: "The young chicken refers to Jia Chang who told others when he was old that he was favored by the emperor of Tang Dynasty because he liked cockfighting when he was young, and he became a jester."
"The phrase "stealing salary" comes from someone writing it to Cao Cao. Aren't you insinuating that the emperor is a traitor to Cao Cao?"
Su Shi was shocked for a long time after hearing this, and then wrote: "I am really hopeless."
Su Shi shook his head.
There is another sentence he did not say, Ziyou, you are more suitable to be an official than me. If you can always follow Prime Minister Zhang, you will have a bright future.
After drinking, Su Che took out Jiaozihui banknotes. Su Shi was surprised when he saw it: "Why is it twice as expensive as before?"
Su Che sighed: "Brother, I don't know. Liang Yi laid out 800,000 troops to besiege Lanzhou City. The people said that once Lanzhou is defeated, the entire Xihe Road will be lost. At that time, the salt banknotes will not be worth a penny. So.
The prices of salt banknotes and jiaozi have plummeted in the market."
"The money shortage that was alleviated in the past is now here again. Things are rising more than before."
Su Shi heard this and said: "Jiaozi's salt banknotes have been devalued so much, which means that the people's resentment is boiling."
"I have said before that exchanging paper money for gold and copper is, in the final analysis, just a way of moving around. It is said to benefit the people, but in fact it is just taking the money from the future to spend today."
Su Zhe said anxiously: "Brother, please stop talking. Is it possible that Prime Minister Zhang will also be offended? If he and Zihou hadn't protected you in front of His Majesty, you..."
Su Shi said: "I know, I'm used to discussing matters. In fact, Prime Minister Zhang has Guan Zhong's talents... So how should the court respond?"
Su Zhe said: "I've been busy with your affairs, brother, recently, so I haven't been to the Prime Minister's house much. But it can be imagined that Prime Minister Zhang is not having a good time now."
"Recently people are asking why Lu Gongzhu has been unable to negotiate peace with Xixia? So much so that Xixia once again raised troops."
"Actually, it was Xixia who called, not me who went to beat him."
…
Three days later, Su Shi and Su Che came to visit Zhang Yue.
The two brothers chatted and laughed with Zhang Yue.
Su Shi smiled and said: "Actually, after the interrogation that day, one night, the dusk drum had already been beaten, and I was about to go to bed when I happened to see a man walking into the cell. He lay down next to me and fell asleep. I thought to myself, this is heaven. Prison, how can this person stay in the same room with me?"
"But I didn't ask any more questions and continued to sleep peacefully. Unexpectedly, when it was almost dawn, the other party woke me up and said, "Congratulations." I didn't know what he meant by asking again and again. He said, "Sleep peacefully and don't worry."
"Now I want to know that Your Majesty has no intention of killing me, so he sent a man to test me in the sky prison. That night, he saw that I was sleeping soundly and felt that I had a clear conscience. The next day, he reported to the officials, so I was just released."
After hearing Su Shi's words, both Zhang Yue and Su Che laughed.
Zhang Yue laughed and said, "Isn't this a lie made up by Zizhan?"
Su Shi smiled and said nothing.
Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Zizhan, I really don't know what to say to you."
Su Shi heard this and said seriously: "Su made a big mistake this time, and the court should deal with it no matter what. However, I heard that in order to exonerate me, Ziyou is willing to take any official position to atone for my sin."
Zhang Yue glanced at Su Zhe after hearing this.
Su Shi said: "Su is heartbroken now. He is not an official, but Ziyou feels uncomfortable because of my involvement. I also ask the Prime Minister to consider that Ziyou has some talents and let him continue to work for the country."
Zhang Yue nodded and said, "I will consider Ziyou's matter."
??????55.??????
"I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. The Prime Minister saved me this time, and Su will remember it in my heart."
Zhang Yue smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, we won't say these words between you and me."
"Actually, Wang Shugong of Jiangning is the one who saved you this time. It was he who wrote to Your Majesty and me to retain talents for the country."
Su Shi was stunned when he heard this, and then remained silent.
From the time when Wang Anshi refused to draft Su Che's book during the imperial examination, there was a dispute between San Su and Wang Anshi. Su Xun wrote an essay on "Discrimination of Adultery" and the connotation of Wang Anshi. Until the later Xining Reform, the two sides fought back and forth.
Su Shi thought of this and asked: "Prime Minister, may I ask, can party strife be eliminated?"
Zhang Yue was stunned. He did not expect Su Shi to ask such a question. He was not asking whether he and Wang Anshi should resolve their grudges, but what to do about the differences in the world?
How did Zhang Yue answer Su Shi's question?
Zhang Yue sighed: "Zizhan, you are here today, and I will complain to you. When Liang Yimi attacked Lanzhou for the first time, he was questioned by his hostage, Zihou and other new parties, thinking that he had not taken any concrete measures.
, but doing nothing there.”
"When Liang Yi buried his second attack on Lanzhou today, prices in Bianjing skyrocketed. I had just seen the clothes of various businesses in Bianjing. They asked me how long the salt banknotes and Jiaozi would continue to fall, and whether the imperial court would take any action.
?”
"I heard that Duke Wen from Luoyang gave me some respect, but the rest was not so polite."
Zhang Yue complained to Su Shi that when Liang Yimi attacked Lanzhou for the first time, the new party complained, and when he attacked Lanzhou for the second time, the old party complained.
However, this time the opposition from Bianjing was not as loud as the last time they attacked Huangzhou.
Thinking back to the last time I was slapped in the face by Zhang Yue on the city tower, many people in the court were much more cautious when speaking, but there were still many who did not remember the lesson.
But it was different in Luoyang. Twenty-two officials who had correspondence with Su Shi, including Sima Guang, Fan Zhen, Sun Jue, Li Chang, and Liu Xun, were all fined two coppers this time for the Wutai Poetry Case.
Ten pounds.
They were all holding back their anger, and their words became rude. Especially the scholar-bureaucrats of the old party believed that the rule of law was in Bianjing, but the rule of the world was in Luoyang.
They have the power to speak out and correct the emperor.
Fu Bi held a meeting for senior citizens, and thirteen idle ministers participated.
They criticized the new law and opposed the use of troops against Xixia. Especially this time, Fu Bi said he did not understand Zhang Yue's use of troops in Lanzhou.
Heaven and earth are benevolent, why did Zhang Gong not assist the Holy Emperor, and neglected to govern the country, but insisted on embarrassing Dangxiang Qiang in the northwest?
When Zhang Yue heard that even Fu Bi, the big boss he had been friends with in the past, criticized him, the pain in his heart was really unspeakable. Fu Bi was still polite when he spoke, but other literati were even less polite, saying to the effect: 'If you can't win, you will be given away.
'.
‘A waste of manpower and material resources, and a waste of the court’s money and food in the water’.
"Instead of using troops against Xia, it is better to think about how to stabilize prices and put the people first."
Zhang Yue complained a lot to Su Shi and Su Che. In fact, Su Shi also opposed the use of troops against Dangxiang. When Quan was taking the Xihe Road, he once wrote, "I will draw the eagle's bow like the full moon, look northwest, and shoot at the wolf."
It seems that he is very in favor of using troops against the party.
But after learning that the two-pronged expedition to Xia failed, Su Shi felt that Dangxiang was really powerful and should not be taken lightly. He even criticized Zhang Dun's capture of Meishan.
Su Shi was always like this. He didn't know what he was talking about, and offended both parties.
What if Zhang Yue said this to him from a high position as prime minister today? Su Shi would not accept it easily. But now Zhang Yue said this to Su Shi in a low-key manner, like a friend complaining, but it aroused the guilt in the other person's heart.
Su Shi said: "Shi thought that when he was young and frivolous, he gave advice to the country, but now that he is an official, he realizes that things are not easy. Today, after hearing what the prime minister said, he feels that being the prime minister is not easy."
Zhang Yue smiled and said: "In the world, only you and Ziyou can complain."
Su Shi thought for a while and said to Zhang Yue: "Actually, when Su asked Zhang Gong whether the party struggle could be eliminated, he already had an answer in his heart."
Zhang Yue said: "I am willing to listen attentively."
Su Shi said: "Shi thought of a Buddhist koan. There was a monk chatting with the monk. The monk asked, do you know what the method for Zen practitioners to guide their original intentions is?"
"The monk asked you to teach me."
"The monk said it seems you already know."
"The monk said it is better to put the head on your head."
After listening to Su Shi's Zen-like words, both Zhang Yue and Su Zhe understood the meaning and nodded happily.
Zhang Yue thought to himself that Su Shi was worthy of being Su Shi, and he was really knowledgeable.
After saying this, Su Shi and Su Che both stood up and left. Zhang Yue sent the two of them to the door and then said to Su Shi: "If Lanzhou wins this time, I will plead with His Majesty on your behalf."
Su Shi said: "Prime Minister, you must not be like this. There is no cure for Shi's disease. He only hates seeing things too clearly and not being able to keep his mouth shut. It's better to go far away. Just calm down, practice Zen, and plow the fields."
, there is a lot of flavor in it.”
"If the Prime Minister goes out on patrol one day and sees a farmer wearing a bamboo hat, holding a plow, and rolling up his trouser legs, standing in the farmland on the side of the mountain, then he might be me."
Zhang Yue and Su Che both laughed when they heard this.
No matter when he is pessimistic, Su Shi can be so optimistic.
Su Shi said leisurely: "In the future, if I am tired and idle, I will stop the cow, drink wine, and beat the horn of the cow to compose a poem. It is really pleasant to think about it."
After Su Shi finished speaking, he looked into the distance and walked away.