The third year of Zhenyou in the Kingdom of Jin was also the eighth year of Jiading in the Song Dynasty.
Different from the turbulent political situation of its powerful neighbor in the north, the Song Dynasty has been stable for eight full years after the somewhat absurd Northern Expedition in the Kaiju Year. Compared with the Jin Dynasty, the people of the Song Dynasty were more comfortable after all.
However, although the ravages of war have been reduced, floods and droughts caused by irregular weather conditions have not stopped. In addition, the scale and destructive power of various disasters in recent years seem to be stronger than before every year. This is the basis for the imperial court. Liangzhe Road has experienced floods fourteen times, sea overflows eight times, and droughts as many as twenty times since the Qingyuan period when the current emperor ascended the throne, in a total of only twenty-one years. At the worst time, the victims were not allowed to receive relief. A wife cannibalize her husband's corpse, a younger brother cannibalize his brother's corpse, and even father and son cannibalize each other's corpse.
The current Emperor of the Song Dynasty is a benevolent emperor who loves the people. He is often depressed when talking about this situation. In the past few days, news came from the palace that the emperor was very worried when he thought about the lack of rain in late spring this year, and planned to issue an edict to punish him. Virtue, in order to implore God to show mercy to the people. In addition, we also plan to arrange measures to pray for rain and misfortune across the country.
Those magic techniques, including painting dragons to pray for rain, lizards to pray for rain, killing geese to pray for rain, etc., are extremely ridiculous, and most knowledgeable people do not believe it. However, if you turn to what Zhu Xi said to inspire harmony, it will lead to Feng Rang. The statement... The emperor was actually not immoral, everyone knew this. So, could it be that there was something wrong with the Prime Minister?
If the plan is to hit Shi Xiang, then Chao Gang will be in turmoil, let alone.
Therefore, the emperor could only focus on these seemingly absurd rain praying ceremonies.
On April 8th, a group of servants, surrounded by a warm sedan, walked slowly through the Imperial Street. The sedan itself was ordinary in shape and not ornately decorated, so both sides of the Imperial Street, especially the area from Wansongling to Zhongan Bridge, , the people coming and going were busy minding their own business, and no one paid attention to this sedan.
Lin'an was the capital of the Song Dynasty. Because the official capital was always in Bianliang, Lin'an's city and palaces had never been fully expanded. Although the imperial street in the center of the city was spacious, there were too many shops on both sides. The kitchen stove for steaming pastries and the rice wine were moved outside, taking up a large space on the edge of the royal street. The sedan chair inevitably moved slower.
When we arrived near the Drum Tower, the flow of people became increasingly dense. The servants shouted several times but failed to clear the way. So the people in the sedan slightly opened the curtain and looked outside.
This man was about fifty years old, with a Chinese character face, thick eyebrows, and five long strands of beard fluttering under his chin. His appearance was very majestic, and his eyes were somewhat sharp. He was Shi Miyuan, the powerful official who controlled the politics of the Song Dynasty.
He was the one who led the killing of Han Zhou during the Kaixi period and pushed the Song Dynasty to pray for peace with the Jin Kingdom. Therefore, he had a bad reputation among ordinary soldiers and civilians. Earlier, there were even military officers colluding with each other with the intention of murdering him. That incident has passed. It has been several years, but Shi Miyuan still has lingering fears. When traveling in private, he often uses a sedan of ordinary specifications, just to be on the safe side.
At this time, he looked outside, frowned, and shouted in a deep voice: "What's going on? Why are there so many monks and nuns gathered outside?"
As soon as these words came out, the confidant butler next to the sedan suddenly smiled, but he immediately suppressed it.
The servants all knew that the Prime Minister was extremely cautious and devoted himself to the balance of the court.
Since last month, the emperor has repeatedly summoned Taoists claiming to have magical powers under the banner of praying for rain, including Master Chongmiao from Dongxiao Palace, Taoist Ziqingming from Taiyi Palace, etc. Although Shi Miyuan did not comment on this,
However, he secretly sent people to enshrine the Buddhist temple, and publicly persuaded the emperor to establish the level of the Jiangnan Zen Temple and establish five mountains and ten temples. At the same time, he also spread the news to the outside world that he was the reincarnation of Tiantong monk Hongzhi Zhengjue.
He was busy all the time, but deep down, he just wanted to prevent any flaws in his family from being exploited by the emperor. When he saw many monks and nuns, Shi Xiang subconsciously became nervous, wondering if these Buddhists were also responding to the emperor.
Actually it wasn't, he was really worried too much.
"Master Prime Minister, today is Buddha's birthday, and all the temples are asking for alms everywhere!"
"oh oh!"
Shi Miyuan laughed dumbly: "I forgot."
April 8th is the birthday of the Buddha. Every temple in the city has a Buddha bathing ceremony. The monks and nuns put the bronze Buddha statues in small basins, soaked them in sugar water, covered them with flower sheds, and then went to various residences in the city.
Use a small ladle to pour the water used to bathe the Buddha on the body as a blessing. Of course, the person who is poured water must immediately give money to give alms to show their respect for the Buddha.
This has been a custom in Lin'an City for decades. When Shi Miyuan's sedan passed by the West Lake, it happened to be a live release party. Rich merchants from various places bid to release turtles, fish, snails and clams. He even praised a few words at the time, but he forgot all about it in the blink of an eye.
Empty.
To him, whether he worships Buddhism or believes in Taoism, they are just tools after all.
Shi Miyuan put down the curtain of the sedan chair, feeling that he might make his servants look down upon him because of his lapse in speech. He also understood that these stupid people did not understand why he had lost his temper.
A few days ago, news came from Huaidong, Huaixi and other places at the same time, saying that the political situation of the Jin Kingdom was turned upside down. A strong minister named Guo Ning raised troops to defeat the Jin troops and horses from all walks of life, and took control of the Zhongdu court in one fell swoop.
, putting the emperor in the palm of his hand.
As soon as this news came to Xingxing, it aroused the reaction of many boring civil servants. It was obviously a matter that had nothing to do with the Song Dynasty. It was obvious that the Jin Kingdom itself was an enemy of the Song Dynasty. It was these people who kept criticizing Shi Miyuan's policy of relaxation;
However, the Kingdom of Jin had powerful ministers, and these people jumped high and wrote colorful articles angrily denounced these abuses of power and bullied the emperor's rebellion.
Respond to the country’s coup.
It's downright ridiculous.
What they care about is the war or peace between Song and Jin? Where is the fierceness of Guo Ning's influence on the Song Dynasty? Where is the order of kings and ministers in the Jin Kingdom?
Most of the barbarians in the north are still wild and fight with each other only with force. Isn't that normal?
They were obviously criticizing Guo Ning of the Jin Kingdom, but they actually meant Shi Miyuan of the Song Dynasty. Every word they said was scolding me! These idiots just felt uncomfortable seeing me standing above the other officials.
That’s it!
In Shi Miyuan's view, Guo Ning's usurpation of power was nothing more than a trivial matter.
According to many courtiers, this kind of powerful mercenary conquest does have its own threats. If his power continues to expand, there is no guarantee that he will become a threat to the Song Dynasty at some time, just like what happened when the Jin Dynasty replaced the Liao Dynasty.
But think about it from another perspective, Dajin is the most powerful country in the world. The Jurchens back then were said to be invincible. How powerful were they? In recent years, they have been fighting with the Black Tartars in the north, so they did not bother to cause trouble with the Song Dynasty. With Dajin
In comparison, Guo Ning is just a guy who started out in the rough and has no foundation. What can those guys really accomplish?
It has been almost a hundred years since Emperor Gaozong made his southern voyage. During these long centuries, no one was able to rise up and destroy the Jin Kingdom, and those reformers would only deceive the court all day long, causing the court to launch troops for the Northern Expedition. This shows that there is absolutely nothing in the Central Plains.
Hero. This Guo Ning suddenly gained power. When the commanders on the border of Dajin came to their senses, wouldn't they be wiped out in a flash?
This kind of thing is not worth discussing in court. However, the guards in Huaidong and Huaixi made a fuss, but Ding Zhan and Hou Zhongxin talked nonsense all day long in order to cover up the failure of their mission!
Shi Miyuan has been thinking about how to comply with the style of officials in the court reprimanding powerful ministers without going into a big fight and seriously burning this fire on himself. After thinking for several days, there was no result. Together with Xuan Zhen,
Xue Ji and others couldn't come up with a good solution either.
But when he saw monks and nuns walking down the street asking for money, he suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.
After all, there are people in the court who speak righteously and scold the powerful ministers of the North; but below the court, there are many people who make money by doing private business with the North. Shi Miyuan has always been clear about this. In the past two years, a large number of people have
Supplies continue to flow to the north, so that the price of food in Ningshao and other places has become expensive. How could it be concealed from the rulers of the dynasty? This was originally the tacit approval of the high-level officials!
Now that the court is in turmoil, let those who denounce the powerful officials come forward to rectify the market and maritime trade. Temporarily blocking the maritime grain trade is in line with their ideas, and it also suppresses Guo Ning's power. Such measures
It will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among many people who rely on sea trade. At present, dogs bite dogs in the court, and both sides are crazy. However, egoism is in dual use, and it is appropriate to advance and retreat!
Shi Miyuan suddenly became happy, and then he considered that this kind of matter cannot be left entirely to the officials in the court. The officials can only talk about it, but their work is unreliable. Someone needs to be careful to do it in detail, so that this can be done.
The matter was accomplished smoothly, and thus the turmoil in the court was safely sent away.
He suddenly thought of someone, so he knocked on the sedan window.
The head servant hurriedly leaned over and asked, "What are your orders, Prime Minister?"
"Over in Chuzhou, there is a county magistrate named Jia She who is very familiar with the market and sea trade. In the past few days, documents from the border areas have been sent frequently, talking about the turmoil in the north, and he was one of them."
As the sole prime minister of the dynasty, he is very fond of the local officials. This is really the skill of a powerful minister. The chief servant respectfully said: "There is such a person. His document also said that he must suppress the powerful officials in the north.
The best way to expand the situation is to use food. If he is in charge, he can suppress the outflow of food as smoothly as possible without causing trouble. However, to handle these things well, a fee of three thousand guan is needed."
Interestingly, what this person saw was the same as mine.
Shi Miyuan said casually: "Give him three thousand strings! Let him watch carefully for me!"