Zhao Guihe is the tenth grandson of Emperor Taizu and the ninth grandson of King Kanghui of Qin. He is a descendant of the royal family. However, in the second year of Kaixi, Zhao Gui, the king of Wuxing County, fell ill. Before his death, he left a note to implore the officials to help him.
Choose a son of the same clan as Zhao and Mu to adopt him as his successor.
The incense of Wuxing County Prince and the official family originated from Emperor Xiaozong. In his early years, Emperor Xiaozong loved the intelligence of Wuxing County Prince. After becoming the Supreme Emperor, he intentionally designated him as the Prince of the East Palace to replace the then Emperor Guangzong's biological son, Prince Jia.
That is, today's official family.
As a result, before the matter was implemented, the Supreme Emperor passed away. Emperor Guangzong was seriously ill and could not govern, so the ministers launched a coup. Following the orders of Empress Gaozong and Empress Dowager Wu, they forced Emperor Guangzong to meditate and passed the throne to Jia.
king.
It is said that the Empress Dowager still preferred the Prince of Wuxing at that time. For this reason, she cried bitterly to the Prince of Wuxing and promised that the elders and the younger would be in order.
This kind of empty promise will naturally be worthless in the future; but the lineage of Wuxing County Prince is actually only half a step away from the throne. Since the Song Dynasty moved south, several generations of officials have had difficulty in heirs, so this lineage will
He was exceptionally rich and valuable, and his status was no small matter. Now that the prince of Wuxing County himself is dead, the current officials are secretly happy in their hearts, and they are also willing to put this lineage directly in their hands by selecting their heirs.
Immediately, the officials sent careful people to select the clan's children. In May of that year, Zhao Xiqu's son was named Zhao Jun, and he was named the heir of King Yi. He was appointed as General Qianniuwei and appointed two primary school professors for the palace of King Yi.
Member, professor of reading to the heir of King Yi.
This heir of King Yi is quite different from the children of the nearby royal family. The outside world often uses the word "yingmin" to describe his character. A wise person is straightforward and decisive; a sensitive person is intelligent, persuasive, and sensitive. As a member of the royal family,
As a core member, he is also favored by the official family every day, and his treatment is almost the same as that of the crown prince.
At that time, Shi Miyuan had defeated many political opponents and was in an authoritarian state. Shi Miyuan's most important aid in the palace was the current crown prince Zhao Xun.
The favor given by the officials to the heir of King Yi naturally aroused the crown prince's vigilance. So Shi Miyuan instructed his party members Shi Zongwan to write to the officials, requesting that the heir of King Yi be changed from a single name to a compound name in accordance with the ancestral constitution.
The world is divided into relatives and friends, and the respect for the crown prince is highlighted.
As a result, Zhao Jun, the heir of King Yi, had a third name, Zhao Guihe.
For the crown prince, this incident was just a small matter to clarify his political status, but for Zhao Guihe, it was tantamount to a huge humiliation. As a result, Zhao Guihe's attitude towards Shi Miyuan became increasingly hostile.
After this hostile attitude spread to the outside world, he naturally became the center of a vague gathering of officials who were alienated from history.
At this time, Zhao Guihe became furious and smashed several treasures presented by Shi Miyuan. He also said that if possible, he would send Shi Miyuan to Xinzhou and Enzhou.
As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man with a black beard and a dusty background let out a long sigh.
Zhao Guihe turned around and looked at the middle-aged man: "Sir, aren't what I said wrong?"
The middle-aged man bowed his head calmly: "The heir is not the prince. This is an overstep and is wrong."
He pointed at the glittering gold and jade scattered everywhere on the ground, and said: "The heir should not be an enemy of the imperial ministers, this is not right... These things have been packed away, and they will definitely be reported to the Prime Minister's study by tomorrow at the latest.
At that time, it will be in vain to cause the displeasure of Shi Xiang."
Prince Yi laughed heartily.
"Sir, you still regard me as the ignorant child you were in my early years. Did you gallop hundreds of miles in two days and sneak back to Lin'an just to criticize me?"
"The heir is not ignorant. It's just that sometimes being too smart is not a good thing."
Zhao Guihe shook his head: "You don't understand!"
The Mr. Xishan in front of me is a famous contemporary Confucian, Zhen Dexiu. He was once responsible for teaching Zhao Guihe how to read, and the two had a deep relationship.
Zhen Dexiu had been secretly persuading Zhao Gui and Tao Gui to keep a low profile. This time when he was abroad, he heard that due to the changes in the situation in the north, the situation in Lin'an was also quite strange. He immediately rushed his horse back to Lin'an to ask for an audience with King Yi's heir.
Stop his restlessness. Because he came in such a hurry, the inner sides of his thighs were torn by the saddle, and he had no time to change clothes and bandage the wounds.
The master-disciple relationship between the two has been going on for eight years now. Zhao Guihe is close to his teacher, and Zhen Dexiu also really cares about his student.
But Zhao Guihe was right, there were many things that Zhen Dexiu didn’t understand.
It’s not that Zhen Dexiu lacks insight or intelligence, but that as a representative of contemporary Neo-Confucian scholars, he cannot understand many things. Not only cannot he understand, he should not listen to them, let alone participate in them.
Zhao Guihe was a descendant of the clan selected from among the people. He was not a fool who had been brainwashed by Confucian classics since he was a child. He knew in the past few years that since he became the heir of King Yi, he was in a trap. In this trap
Li, sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat.
Zhen Dexiu thought that it would be best for Zhao Guihe to be a respectful and humble prince.
In fact, the struggle for imperial power in the Song Dynasty did not tolerate humility at all.
The succession of thrones in the Song Dynasty in recent generations is all driven by a confrontation of strength. Where does strength come from? Can it come from being respectful and humble? What a mistake! The more respectful and humble you are, the more you will be looked down upon by others, and the less likely you will be.
If I am optimistic about you and dependent on you, I will have no strength at all!
If you want to have strength, you have to come up with an attitude and then clearly promote this attitude. Then people who agree with you will follow you from all directions, and they will elect you as a representative at a critical moment!
So, what should be Zhao Guihe’s attitude?
He thought about this question over and over again dozens or hundreds of times, and finally confirmed one thing. Nowadays, the power of the Prime Minister is overwhelming and he controls all the affairs of the court. Today's court has only one attitude on the surface, and that is approval.
The attitude of the historian.
Those who adhere to this attitude include countless civil and military officials in the court, as well as the crown prince Zhao Xun.
In this case, there is only one other way left for Zhao Guihe. He actually has no choice.
And after he embarked on this road full of trepidation, he made another surprising discovery.
On this road, he is not alone. At least, he has an extremely powerful backing, and that is the current official himself.
On the surface, the current emperor's trust in Shi Xiang is far greater than his trust in Han Xianzhou back then, almost like Emperor Gaozong's trust in Qin Zhongxian. In the past few years, both the government and the public have said nothing about the emperor, but the officials have done nothing and looked up to him.
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This situation stems from the fact that after the failure of the Kaixi Northern Expedition, the manpower, financial and material resources accumulated by the Song Dynasty for decades were completely lost. People were frustrated, the government and the public were in an uproar, and no one in the court dared to take responsibility.
So the emperor tried his best to exaggerate how loyal and honest he was, almost calling himself a fool; and the political forces of all parties also tried their best to shrink, hoping that a few people, including Shi Xiang, would come forward to clean up the mess. As a result, Shi Xiang took this opportunity to make a fuss.
If it becomes bigger, it will control the monarchs and ministers of the dynasty.
Under this situation, the officials' trust in the prime minister was partly out of sincerity, but more out of necessity.
However, after all, the official family has been on the throne for more than 20 years, and there is no shortage of means to contain powerful officials. The dissatisfaction of King Yi Wang's heirs with Shi Miyuan was one of his means.
If what Shi Miyuan did generally satisfied the officials, then it would be fine. One day, the officials felt that it was unbearable, and they just had to spread the news about Yi Chu. Around the heir of King Yi, those political forces who secretly opposed Shi Miyuan,
It will immediately expand violently and grow enough to compete with Shi Miyuan.
By that time, the official family was in the ninth level, and with a little help, Shi Miyuan would end up as the second Han Zhouzhou. But the world knows that the emperor is always wise, and the treacherous ministers are always the ones who do bad things.
Now that a treacherous official has been executed, the common people only need to be happy. Every few years, a treacherous official is put to death, and the ignorant common people are happy, and that is also a pleasure.
But to realize this means of containment, two points must be guaranteed.
The first point is that the news about Yi Chu cannot be too big, but it cannot be absent. After all, the official family loves their own son and is unwilling to throw dirty water on him. Therefore, the crown prince, who lives in the forbidden palace, can only spread rumors every now and then.
There was news that he was feeling unwell. It is difficult to say which times he was truly unwell, and which times the emperor deliberately ordered people to publicize and exaggerate a minor illness into a serious illness.
The second point is that Zhao Guihe, the heir of King Yi, must stand unswervingly on the opposite side of Shi Xiang. This is the only meaning of the existence of the heir of King Yi, and there is absolutely no room for failure. Fortunately, Zhao Guihe also really hates it.
Shi Xiang, carried out this task without any hesitation.
The emperor used Zhao Guihe as a tool to maintain the basic balance of the court.
The prime minister knew that Zhao Guihe was the emperor's tool. He was very smart and would not touch this tool easily.
Zhao Guihe himself also knew that he was a tool. But in his eyes, he also saw the position above tens of millions of people. He wanted to retain the chance to obtain that position, even if it was a one in 10,000 chance, so
Just make the tools first.
For this reason, Zhao Guihe sent some people to incite the imperial students, belittle the diplomatic achievements of the prime minister, and force him to go against the Northern Dynasty. This was indeed his duty and it should be done.
The thing was done, but not smoothly.
Somewhat unexpectedly, it was Li Yun, the envoy from the Northern Dynasties, who beat up Shi Xiang's nephew and then brought Han Xi out to warn Shi Xiang.
Han Xi himself is just a useless person. The meaning of his existence is that he can cover the intentions of Prince Yi at certain times. But how smart is Shi Xiang? This cover was exposed in front of Shi Xiang in an instant. As a result, Yuan Yuan
Shao, the governor of Lin'an, wanted to flatter him, so he immediately hired a large number of people to strengthen surveillance on the palace.
This kind of surveillance has no practical significance. Zhao Guihe is neither afraid nor cares. But since a group of people blocked the door, they were upset after all. Prince Yi's palace regarded it as a provocation and sent out guards to beat them. It was even more natural.
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Zhao Guihe turned to look at Zhen Dexiu, and said in a calm tone: "Sir, it's better to leave quickly. Shi Miyuan's eyes and ears are all over the city. If his whereabouts are exposed, he may be impeached. As for me...
Some things must be done, not just out of recklessness as you imagine... Don't worry, I understand everything you should understand."
Zhen Dexiu was used to the overly tough appearance of his students in daily life. Suddenly, he was shocked to hear his sincere words, which did not sound like a teenager's tone.
The next moment, he seemed to understand the hidden meaning of Zhao Guihe's words. He hesitated for a while, hesitated to speak, and finally bowed deeply, said goodbye and left.