BSI Chapter 80 0078 [Who decides right and wrong?]
Chapter 80 0078 [Who decides right and wrong?]
Chapter 80 0078 [Who decides right and wrong?]
The boat trip was quite relaxing. On the boat, Xu Lai not only reviewed and reinforced his Confucian classics, but also memorized more than ten famous works from the Zhaoming Anthology.
You must memorize the entire "Odes to the Two Capitals" and "Odes to the Two Capitals".
There are also works like "Zixu Fu", "Luoshen Fu", and "Dengtuzi Haose Fu"—reading various genres in a haphazard way, just to understand the literary structure. I really enjoyed reading the Yuefu poems.
Then they abandoned the ship and hiked over the Dayu Mountains.
Also known as Meiling.
Ten thousand banners will slay Yama, the King of Hell!
"Sigh, let's take a break, it's too hard to walk." Lu Zhiyuan was panting heavily.
The leader of the delegation from the Grain Transport Office said, "It used to be much more difficult to travel. This spring, Minister Cai personally went north to repair the road and plant trees, and now the official road is much easier to travel. Those small pine trees ahead were planted by people sent by Minister Cai."
Xu Lai mainly carried his own books, which weighed several dozen kilograms, without asking the laborers or soldiers to do it for him.
Upon reaching a relatively flat area, the three tribute teams finally stopped to rest.
Gao Shizhan had also become familiar with Lu Zhiyuan, and joked, "You two are both Xingzhi, so you should be able to walk very fast."
"Haha, I can't walk anymore," Lu Zhiyuan said, pointing to Xu Lai who had put down his books. "That Xingzhi is amazing. He can carry dozens of kilograms of books up a mountain as if he were walking on flat ground."
Lu Zhiyuan, also known as Xingzhi.
This is also one of the reasons why he and Xu Lai hit it off. They shared the same courtesy name and traveled to the capital together, so it was hard not to become friends.
Xu Lai was also panting heavily, leaning against a pine tree, closing his eyes to catch his breath.
His shoulders were burning with pain, and the straps of his books had drawn blood.
Lu Zhiyuan sprawled out on his back, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, leisurely gazing at the clouds. This young master seemed to be on vacation, having left all his luggage to his page and servants.
After finishing their dry rations and resting for a while, the group continued their journey.
Xu Lai carefully observed the mountain road along the way and found obvious signs of widening, with bricks and stones laid in many places.
Moreover, pine trees are planted along both sides of the road.
Once these pine trees grow up, they will not only provide shade and shelter for pedestrians, but also prevent soil erosion and reduce the erosion of mountain roads by rainwater.
The brothers Cai Kang and Cai Ting worked together to build a road, which would benefit the country and its people for hundreds of years in just one spring.
After crossing the Dayu Ridge, you will reach Dayu County, the military capital of the Nan'an Army.
The military governor of Nan'an was named Zhang Min. He was Zhang Dun's cousin and the younger cousin of the late prime minister Zhang Dexiang.
Here, the hundred-day national mourning period had ended, and Zhang Min hosted a banquet for them, promising to help them prepare boats.
Inside the hotel, Zhang Min pulled Chu Cheng aside: "Why did the Guangzhou Prefect send someone to offer tribute alone, and even go ahead of you?"
"Shi Xun, the Vice Prefect of Guangzhou, is a rather wicked ruler, and I, your Excellency, have never liked him," Chu Cheng explained simply.
Zhang Min immediately understood: "I understand."
He instructed his subordinates to greet everyone, then left the hotel alone. Upon returning to the yamen, he immediately summoned his staff: "Stop preparing the official boats and laborers for Shi Guoting, and allocate them all to the Guangdong Three Departments Mission."
The aide reminded him, "The magistrate of Guangzhou has the authority to send envoys to present gifts to the new emperor, and the officials along the way are required to coordinate the allocation of ships according to regulations."
Zhang Min laughed and said, "I didn't say I wouldn't send them ships. The Nan'an Army doesn't have enough official ships, so let them wait."
Shi Xun's son, Shi Guoting, and his advisor, Liu Shizhong, simply led the tribute team and waited foolishly.
For the first three days, Zhang Min used official funds to entertain the two men, but gradually he let them buy their own food.
After waiting anxiously for seven or eight days, Liu Shizhong went to urge the boat several times, but was told each time that the official boats were in short supply and there were no available boats for them.
"What should we do?"
Shi Guoting was extremely anxious: "The delegation from the Three Departments of Guangdong set sail four days ago. How long are we supposed to wait?"
Liu Shizhong was also helpless: "I can only hire merchant ships myself, otherwise it will take forever. But I went to ask yesterday, and I couldn't find any available merchant ships."
"How could we not even find any merchant ships?" Shi Guoting gritted his teeth in anger. "It must be the magistrate of Nan'an who's behind this! Does Zhang Min have some kind of grudge against my family?"
Liu Shizhong smiled wryly: "Not only do we have no enmity, but when he was young, he was friends with the old gentleman (Shi Changyan)."
"Since you are friends with my grandfather, why do you make things so difficult for me?" Shi Guoting asked.
Liu Shizhong remained silent.
They went to congratulate the new emperor with great enthusiasm, but were stopped as soon as they arrived in Jiangxi.
Xu Lai's group, however, had a smooth journey, traveling on an official boat provided by Zhang Min, and only changed boats after reaching Jiangzhou (Jiujiang).
The prefect of Jiangzhou was named Lü Hui, the grandson of the late prime minister Lü Duan.
Two years ago, Lü Hui was still serving as a Palace Attendant Censor. He was demoted to an official post in Jiangzhou by Emperor Renzong of Song for impeaching Princess Chongguo for opening the palace gates at night.
He was a close friend of Sima Guang and would later engage in a fierce struggle with Wang Anshi, but at this time he supported the reforms.
At this time, Sima Guang actually supported the reforms.
Lu Hui warmly entertained them in Jiangzhou, and Xu Lai, as Yu Jing's disciple, was even called over for a brief chat.
Lu Hui was very kind to Xu Lai, smiling and encouraging him, "Master An Dao (Yu Jing) has never accepted disciples before, you are the first I know of. From now on, you must study hard and not let your teacher down."
"I will follow your teachings!" Xu Lai bowed respectfully.
The exchange has now concluded.
Given Lü Hui's background and experience, it was already the limit for him to be willing to chat with Xu Lai for a few minutes, and that was only because of Yu Jing's sake.
The Nan'an army's official ships turned back, and the group boarded official ships from Jiangzhou and headed east.
Lü Hui also traveled with them; he had just received his transfer order to return to the capital to serve as a co-director of the Censorate.
When the boat reached Jiangning, they paid their respects to Prefect Wang Zhi—Wang Gui's cousin.
Xu Lai realized at this moment that all the officials in the Song Dynasty were related to each other.
Along the way, he met a prefect, a military governor, and a sub-prefect, who were respectively the future prime minister's cousin, the future prime minister's uncle, and the late prime minister's grandson!
That's absolutely ridiculous.
They traveled at a leisurely pace, constantly changing boats, and arrived in Kaifeng in the ninth month of the lunar calendar.
Before even seeing the city walls of Kaifeng, streets and alleys could be found along both banks of the Bian River, several miles away.
There are also many—shacks for the poor!
"Ah, I'm finally back." Lu Zhiyuan stood at the bow of the ship, his eyes filled with the sight of prosperity.
Xu Lai stood on another boat, silently looking at the shacks.
The fleet was stopped before it even entered the city, and the gifts were transferred to a special warehouse. The people were then taken to the Ban Jing Hall to receive training in audience etiquette.
After two days of training, the main members were finally allowed to enter the city and were then transferred to Dutingyi to rest.
Duting Post Station was originally used to receive foreign envoys, but recently there have been too many local delegations sending tribute, so they just use whichever guesthouse has an empty room.
During the period of offering sacrifices, one must not go out or receive guests.
Xu Lai simply stayed at the Duting Post Station reading books, waiting for the court to arrange a time for him to meet the new emperor.
The day after they checked into the Duting Post Station, Gao Shizhan and Chu Cheng went to visit the neighboring delegation, but they soon returned with grim faces.
Xu Lai asked, "Did you hear bad news?"
"That scoundrel Sima Guang is truly despicable!" Chu Cheng exclaimed angrily, calling Sima Guang by his given name.
Xu Lai then looked at Gao Shizhan.
Gao Shizhan offered a brief explanation: there were simply too many local delegations coming to pay homage to the new emperor. Some officials were utterly shameless, stuffing their relatives and confidants into the delegations, each hoping to obtain an official position.
At first, the imperial court was quite generous in awarding official positions, but it couldn't keep up with the increasing number of tribute teams.
Sima Guang could no longer stand by and watch, so he submitted a memorial requesting a reduction in the number of official positions granted: Official positions could be granted to relatives of local officials within five degrees of kinship, at the discretion of the authorities. Those beyond five degrees of kinship should not be granted official positions, but only monetary rewards.
Although Sima Guang's memorial was not adopted by the court, the official positions given to the subsequent delegations to the capital were very low, and complaints arose in the post station.
Xu Lai remained silent.
He understood that Sima Guang was right; it was indeed inappropriate to bestow official titles so indiscriminately. However, Xu Lai was still very unhappy because it concerned his own interests.
Feeling annoyed, Xu Lai began to reflect.
My expectations for this minor official post, one granted through patronage, are not high, yet it still makes me quite unhappy. If reforms are implemented in the future, how many people's interests will be affected, and how many will be unhappy?
When it doesn't concern them, many people can speak eloquently and logically.
When it comes to your own safety, screw the bigger picture!
Take Chu Cheng, for example. He's always been a nice guy, but because his own interests were harmed, he got so angry that he called Sima Guang by his full name.
Reforming the law is indeed very difficult.
Gao Shizhan went outside to take a look and found that no one was eavesdropping. He then went back inside and joined Chu Cheng in cursing Sima Guang.
Gao Shizhan gritted his teeth and said, "He (Sima Guang) was so concerned about the country, why didn't he prevent everyone from getting an official position? If he wouldn't give one, then no one should be given one, not even relatives within five degrees of kinship!"
Xu Lai thought to himself: That makes sense; it is only fair to treat everyone the same.
We are all here to present tribute to the new emperor, so why should the relatives of local officials receive special treatment?
Sima Guang's so-called reforms were a form of improvement, which involved making steady and gradual adjustments to various aspects of the country while minimizing the impact on vested interest groups.
To put it simply, it's just a matter of pasting it up.
This kind of improvement is actually acceptable, but it depends on when.
The Song Dynasty is on the verge of collapse!
Just for building Emperor Renzong's mausoleum, nearly 50,000 soldiers and civilians were conscripted at once, and the extremely unreliable Cai Xiang was put in charge.
Cai Xiang often acted without thinking, and this time, the construction of his mausoleum was no exception. The various plans were a complete mess. Many materials were simply not needed, but he ignored the financial difficulties and purchased them haphazardly, leaving them piled up with no clear purpose.
During this period, many officials were impeaching Cai Xiang, but the former officials of the Qingli era were desperately trying to protect him.
The once spirited and ambitious officials of the Qingli era have gradually become the very thing they hated in their youth.
The "new faction" led by Sima Guang and the veteran officials led by Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu have clashed openly and covertly on several occasions over the financial crisis triggered by Emperor Renzong's funeral.
The conflict between the two sides is growing.
It must be acknowledged that Sima Guang's memorials during this period were consistently written with the country and its people in mind. He openly supported a simplified funeral and hoped that Emperor Renzong's tomb could be built on a smaller scale.
The people in the Gyeonggi region are about to explode!
In order to build a mausoleum for Emperor Renzong of Song, and to reward officials, soldiers and missions, all kinds of harsh taxes and levies were imposed and various forms of extortion were levied, plunging countless families into despair.
Xu Lai, however, was one of the beneficiaries; he received both an official position and a reward.
The reward he is about to receive will be earned entirely from the hard-earned money of the people.
That evening, Xu Lai sat in the courtyard of Duting Post Station, looking up at the night sky and lost in thought for a long time.
Tomorrow I will be going to the palace to see the emperor.
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