Since ancient times, the literati and inkers have mostly obtained meritorious names in order to have a place in the court, but the official field is ups and downs, and if you want to have a smooth career, you must learn to deal with the relationship with the emperor's colleagues and subordinates, if you do not have this ability, I am afraid that in the end I will only end up with a desolate end.
Therefore, the ancients longed to make a difference in the official field, but they were afraid of being framed by villains, and it was difficult to be an official. However, for the Northern Song Dynasty King Zeng, this seems to be a piece of cake.
A young talent in the middle of the three yuan, a second generation of official eunuchs with a good door
For Wang Zeng, what really makes people admire must be his smooth road to the imperial examination. Throughout the hundreds of years of the Song Dynasty, few people compared to him. He was in the first place in the solution test, the township test, and the temple test. Rolled kung fu, no one can match. He was talented and quick-witted. Get your exam papers and wait for them. This ability has also made many people really admire. According to legend, when Wang Zeng was born, the sky changed, and his father prayed to the temple, and the old abbot told his father that there would be a reincarnation of Wenqu Star in his family. Later, Wang Zeng's ability also verified this.
Being able to top the high school three times and still get the first place in the temple examination is really powerful. He is also a very strong Yuanlang in the past and the present. However, he is really envied because of his youth. He had won the title and was only in his twenties. Young talents, well-deserved.
At the same time, he came from a good background. His father was a generation of famous officials, holding real power, and was a second-level official responsible for supervising hundreds of officials. His father was a generous man, and he was co-opted by various forces, and his colleagues and officials also respected youjia. Wang's great-born mother, the daughter of a famous general, was on the side of Wei Zhen and was highly respected by the royal family. Therefore, Wang Zeng's background is relatively outstanding, and it is very prominent among young newcomers. Such a newcomer to the official field who has learned to be rich and has a deep background is naturally highly respected, and his career path is smooth.
Less than ten years after becoming the deputy prime minister, the clever plan has overthrown the traitorous prime minister
Wang Zeng's career was smooth, he was respected, and he also had many admired confidants. He inherited his father's magnanimous demeanor and did not compete with people for fame and profit. He was brilliant, the first of the most civil servants, and his skills were convincing. Young people debut, but there is no such sharpness, tolerance everywhere, high morality, such a young man, no wonder the elders have to pull him. In less than ten years, Wang Zeng rose all the way to the top, successively serving as a local official and supervising the imperial history, and was also recognized by the imperial family. After that, the group of ministers strongly recommended and became the deputy prime minister. In less than a decade, he became a veritable second-in-command of the imperial court.
However, after Emperor Renzong of Song ascended the throne, he soon faced a grim political situation. Ding Shu, the prime minister who had never violated him, suddenly began to exclude him. It turned out that Ding Zhi was fierce and bent on occupying the imperial court, and Wang Zeng, as an important cabinet member, had blocked Ding Shu from promoting his confidants. The power of the two is also a secret struggle. At that time, Song Renzong was only a teenager, and such a child had no experience in handling government affairs. Therefore, the empress dowager bowed to the government and assisted in political affairs. Prime Minister Ding Zhi saw the opportunity and wanted to win over people and horses, cultivate his confidants, and expand his power even more. To this end, he co-opted the eunuch Lei Guan, and the two of them went one after the other, fooling the empress dowager and the young emperor. In the imperial court, hundreds of officials did not dare to compete with Ding Zhi, and for a while, the smoke miasma was black, and the government was delayed.
Wang Zeng had his own view of right and wrong, and he was also very dissatisfied with Ding Zhi. It's just a pity that he is weak and powerless to overthrow this traitor. However, he has a strategy of Taoguang and obscurity, and knows that to advance is to retreat. In the open, he gave up his official position, had a false name, and distributed his power. Seeing Ding Zhi, he was also bent on being tolerant and flattering. In fact, he hid the needle in the cotton and secretly searched for evidence. In order to let Ding Shu relax his vigilance, he also took the initiative to give up the opportunity to enter the palace and never went to the court again. As a result, in the imperial court, hundreds of civil and military officials, they could not help but look at ding as the head of the horse. Ding Zhi was also quickly flooded with the DPRK, and Ding Zhi's power was getting bigger and bigger.
Of course, Wang Zeng did these things to paralyze Ding Zhi. In his position, he firmly admired Ding Shu's approach and let Ding Shu regard him as his own. Privately, however, he transferred the relationship between Ding Zhi and the courtiers, looking for evidence, and uniting the ministers. Finally, everything is ready. He was going to go into the palace to file a complaint. In order not to let Ding Shu notice, he specially came to Ding Shu's home and invited Ding Shu to enter the palace with him, falsely claiming that he wanted to resign his official post and return to his hometown, hoping that the empress dowager would allow it. However, Ding Yu was afraid that the empress dowager would discover his crime, so he let Wang Zeng enter the palace alone.
In the imperial palace, Wang Zeng immediately listed Ding Zhi's guilt to the empress dowager and confessed the information and evidence he had searched. The empress dowager summoned Ding Zhi overnight and took him down in the palace, and Ding Zhi's henchmen were also controlled. Those former ministers rushed forward one after another, complaining bitterly about Ding Shu's guilt, and finally Ding Shu was executed, and the whole family was also implicated. Wang Zeng's whole-person technique is also clever. In later generations, there are still people who evaluate him as more adulterous than traitors. However, this may be a compliment to his ingenuity.
In his later years, he promoted his juniors and voluntarily withdrew from politics
Wang Zeng presided over the government in his later years, and he also held a lot of real power in his hands. However, he was very loyal to the royal family, did not play with power, and cultivated his confidants. On the contrary, he prefers to appoint juniors and promote talents. As a literati, he attached great importance to the selection of talents in the imperial examination, and even single-handedly brought out a generation of literary leaders such as Ouyang Xiu, which was also his contribution.
In fact, Wang used to often educate Ouyang Xiu and others, encouraging them to work hard and not to be complacent with a little achievement. Wang Zeng even gave an example of a generation of famous courtiers Kou Zhun. Emperor Kou Zhun liked it and established a meritorious deed, but was later demoted from the capital. Who expected, Ouyang Xiu pointed out to the point that Kou Zhun was old, but he still had no intention of abdicating the throne and giving way to Xian, he occupied the throne and refused to let go, so naturally he was not allowed to be welcomed by the emperor.
Ouyang Xiu's words also reminded Wang Zeng at once. When he got home, he thought about it all night, thinking that he was old and still in a high position. In the face of heavy government affairs, he is also difficult to maintain. When people are old, they should also give in. A month later, he took the initiative to resign and return to his hometown, and the emperor also promised. Later, the emperor also dismissed many old cadres at the same time, and Wang Zeng was also glad for his actions. Wang Zeng was able to retreat in a hurry, reflect in time, see the emperor's meaning, and be extremely intelligent and sober and rational.