Author: Xu Yunhui
In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, 200,000 elite soldiers of the Liao State threatened the border of Chen Bing Dai Prefecture (present-day Dai County, Shanxi) and forced the Song court to assign Dai Prefecture to the Liao State. The Song court explicitly refused, and sent diplomats to reply to the Liao. Diplomats are deeply afraid of this trip such as "meat buns beat dogs - there is no return", and blame each other "dare not do it." ”
Emperor Xu was appointed by the imperial court as a special envoy to the Liao state. He consulted relevant confidential documents in the Privy Council, fully grasped the history of the Song and Liao dynasties disputes, and after doing his homework, embarked on a journey.
The Southern Dynasty's envoy to the Liao State became explosive news. The citizens of the Liao Dynasty rushed to tell each other: "Look at the Southern Dynasty! They rode on the beams of the house and pointed, watching Xu General's style, and each one of them was a big thumbs up. Xiao Xi, a special envoy of the Liao State, received General Xu at the hotel, and in order to win back a round, he deliberately invited General Xu to shoot arrows. Unexpectedly, Xu Yunwen Yunwu took a bow and arrow, hit the bullseye, and won the full hall.
Xiao Xi tore his face and went straight to the subject, "Ask Dai Zhou." Xu will see the tricks and dismantle the moves, "follow the questions and answers", step by step, steady and steady. Xiao Xitu's poor dagger saw: "My border with your country has never been determined, so I will personally go to your country and demarcate the border at one time!" General Xu sneered, "Such a trivial matter as the demarcation of the border, your country only needs to negotiate with our country to solve it, why did you send such a heavyweight envoy as you to bring 200,000 troops to the city with a fierce army? This remark with a gun and a stick made "Xi Wei can't be right." ”
Xu will successfully complete the mission, "Return to the gods, and god will do good." After his successful debut, he proved himself to be strong in the Southern Song Dynasty, and thus stepped onto the political stage.
(1) Southern Dynasty Champions
At the age of 27, Xu General "raised the first soldier". The chief examiner Ouyang Xiu finished reading his words and praised him in person: "Jun's words are like Yi Gong (Song Zhenzong Shi Zhuangyuan, Mingxiang), (the future) is not measurable!" ”
After joining the army, Xu will emerge from his colleagues with excellent political achievements. He scrupulously fulfilled his duties, promoted the advantages and disadvantages, selected the best and the best, and created a miracle of winning three positions in three consecutive days, and these three jumps were "all special orders of the Divine Sect", which made the Manchu officials envious.
After Xu Completed his heavy mission to the Liao State, he was ordered to begin rectifying a series of chaotic situations in the local armed forces in "Hebei Baojia, Shaanxi Hedong Archery Society, and Minchu Gunmen". He took targeted measures, and the effect was immediate. General Xu's success inevitably aroused the envy and envy of his colleagues, who hollowed out their hearts to shoot General Xu down in the political arena.
Too much student Yu Fan overstepping the level to sue the student official for favoritism and fraud in assessing the student's grade. In order to achieve his personal goals, the second minister Cai did intervene in the trial of the case by Yu Shitai. He deliberately made a big deal out of it, arresting and imprisoning many unrelated students. Xu General, who was then a "Scholar of Hanlin and Quan Zhi Kaifeng Province", was extremely disgusted by Cai Qi's practice of pulling a large banner as a tiger skin, "releasing the innocents of all lives." Cai Did take the opportunity to frame Xu for personal gain, "arresting his father and son and entering the Imperial Palace." Xu's father and son were released after more than a month, and under the operation of Cai Qi and others, they "deposed Zhi Puzhou." ”
(2) Places to go
As a local official, Xu Will still worked hard and complained, was pro-government and loved the people, and was deeply respected by the people. After he changed to Yun Prefecture Zhizhou, it was the Lantern Festival.
Southern Song Dynasty custom, "The fifteenth day of the first month is the Shangyuan Festival, and the lights are open for five nights." "The lights are crowded and bustling. The government catches a few unscrupulous thieves and destroys a thief syndicate. They were registered and imprisoned as thieves. General Xu thought that if he beat them to death, he would completely ruin the path of rehabilitation of these three misguided hands. So he said something serious and released them all. The thieves were grateful to Zero, and vowed to stop the horse from the cliff and become a man again, "No one in the people has broken the law, and all three are empty." ”
Yuncheng readers believed that the Emperor of Heaven was far away, and over time he developed a bad habit of liking to get together and slander the current situation and the government. Although successive Zhizhou suppressed from time to time, it was repeatedly forbidden. His subordinates suggested that Xu would issue a political order prohibiting the gathering of readers, and Xu would be well aware of the principle that "the mouth of the people is better than the defense of Sichuan" and refused to issue a ban. The reader was very touched to learn that Xu would be so far-sighted and open-minded that he gradually spontaneously canceled the rally.
(3) Responsibility
Due to his outstanding political achievements, Xu was recalled to the imperial court to serve as a military attendant (equivalent to the current vice minister of defense). He quickly entered the role, became familiar with related businesses, and frequently put forward various insights and propositions from the perspective of national defense. Before the Song court used troops against western Xia, the Song Shen Sect sent close attendants to touch the bottom of the house and inquire about the total number of soldiers and horses that Xu General's imperial court could mobilize. Xu will be like a number of family treasures, detailed report. The next day, Song Shenzong deliberately asked the Privy Council Minister who was specifically responsible for the matter. The minister was stunned by the question, "Can't be right either." ”
Xu will thus enter the eyes of the Song Shen Sect, and his position will be frequently promoted. After several years of going around, he served as an official Shangshu. In this position, Xu will fully reflect the responsibility and responsibility of famous ministers, and make two major things that are praised:
Resolutely smash Zhang Huan's criminal attempt to dig up Sima Guang's tomb. After Zhang Huan, a staunch supporter of the new law, was appointed by the pro-government Emperor Zhezong of Song, he reused Wang Anshi's son-in-law Cai Bian to carry out a counterattack on the old party represented by Sima Guang in an all-round way, "degrading the Yuanyou ministers." Because Sima Guang had already been buried for safety, Zhang Huan attempted to excavate Sima Guang's tomb and posthumously seize the imperial court's gifts to Sima Guang and others. Xu will protect Mingzhe and "remain silent" during his attendance. However, when Song Zhezong asked for his opinion, Xu General clearly expressed his opposition to tomb excavation: "The tomb of sending people is not a matter of great virtue!" ”
Resolutely oppose the use of bloody killings to stop the old and new party struggles in the imperial court. Zhang Huan and others are bound to put the backbone figures of the old party to death, and the old party is not willing to lead the neck to kill, and the two sides are talking about each other, and fierce party struggles have occurred, triggering turmoil in the government and the opposition. Some people suggested to Song Zhezong that a quick knife should be adopted to cut through the chaos, imitating the thunderbolt method of the two emperors of the Han and Tang Dynasties who "destroyed the killing" and opened a large-scale killing ring to stop the party struggle.
Song Zhezong not only deeply resented the party struggle, but also could not bear to use bloody means to solve the problem, and specially solicited the opinions of General Xu. Xu General earnestly advised: "In the two generations of the Han and Tang Dynasties, there was indeed an emperor who resolved the party dispute by killing everything!" However, I have never had such an instance of the founding of the country since taizu. The reason why the governing policy of this dynasty far exceeded that of the Han and Tang Dynasties was that it never killed the ministers! Song Zhezong, as a daigo, took the advice and eliminated a bloody killing.
(4) Yunwen Yunwu
Xu General had excellent military vision, and according to the characteristics of the frontier terrain, he recommended the famous general Zhang Rao (jié) as a border commander to resist Western Xia. Zhang Rao lived up to his high expectations, "Fruitful. The "border guards" threatened the army to "fu ding, Kuozhou" Yu Wei, and planned to cross the Yellow River to pursue the enemy army with a single blow, which was unanimously opposed by the imperial court. Only General Xu lied to the public opinion: "The enemy army has always been cunning and changeable, and the fighters are fleeting." The minister wanted to approve the border minister's battle plan! ”
Bianchen led his troops to cross the river to attack, and the momentum was like a bamboo, and successfully recaptured the river and Huang. "Jie Shu Zhi", in addition to the celebration of the Manchu Dynasty, also admired Xu General's strategic vision. Xu will "turn to the special advance with the Fu River and Huang Gong, and dwell in the political land for ten years." ”
Li Gang, a famous minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, praised Xu Jiang to the point of great respect: "Wending Xu Gong, Dangren Temple Jiayou Zhongting Pair, is the first in the world." In the five dynasties, for more than forty years, he has been in the throne, and he has embraced the festival, and his deeds, deeds, scriptures, and articles are all available, which are admired by the world. ”
However, most of the officials who were in the same dynasty as Xu General did not have a high opinion of him.
(5) Three degrees of depreciation
Xu General was first degraded because he was implicated in the "Taisheng Yu Fan Case" and was single-handedly expelled from the Beijing Division by Cai Qing and others. At this time, Xu will be upright and admirable.
The second time he was degraded, he blamed himself. When he returned to the imperial court to take up the important post of Shangshu Right Chancellor, he completely overturned himself because of his rash statement on a personnel appointment decision: the Zhongzhi (the emperor's edict issued directly from the inner court) announced the appointment of the famous generals Wang Wenyu and Yao Yan to lead the army; the consul of the imperial court proposed two different candidates, Zhang Liyi and Zhang Shouyue. General Xu first expressed his support for the consul, but turned around and secretly resolutely opposed his friend Zhang Liyi's ascension to the throne. The consul was very disgusted with Xu's face-to-face and behind-the-scenes approach, believing that he was deliberately snooping to the emperor's wishes and betraying his friends in order to show off his integrity and selflessness. Xu General thus became a public enemy of the imperial court, and was "deposed as a senior scholar of the Imperial Palace, Zhiding Prefecture, moved to Yangzhou, and moved to DamingFu." ”
The third time he belittled who was in power during his triumphant decade of reign. Yushi Zhongcheng collected and sorted out all the Xie Zhang tables before Xu General, searched for excerpts to catch suspicious words and sentences, denounced Xu General for always insinuating and slandering Xu General for "catching fish when he sees it, shrinking when he sees a snake, extremely unstable political stance, turning clouds and raining, going to the twilight of the three and four, and stealing peace, which is a typical old fritter in the political arena!" Xu will therefore be expelled from the capital," said The Senior Minister of the Imperial Household of Henan Province. The wall fell on everyone, and General Xu's political enemies took the opportunity to fall into the well and slandered and attacked him. Xu General's situation became increasingly embarrassing, and he was forced to move from place to place, "Demoting the Senior Political Hall Scholar, Zhiying Changfu, and moving the daimyō." A few years later, Xu will become angry, "Died, seventy-five years old." ”
Whether Xu Will be a famous minister who benefits the world, or an old official fritter who sees the wind and makes the rudder, posterity will have a different opinion. It is not a big mistake to think that in the midst of the sinister political storm, Xu Will had to choose the way of the left and right Sources against his will in an attempt to protect himself. Accusing him of being an old fritter in the officialdom is unfair. Most of his contemporaries suffered from political purity, and it was understandable that they did not think highly of him. Therefore, Xu will do more than he has done, and it is worthy of admiration and learning by future generations!
【About the author】Xu Yunhui, male, graduated from the Department of Chinese of Yunnan Normal University in 1984 and is now a senior lecturer at Baoshan No.1 Middle School Education Group in Yunnan Province. He has published two monographs and published more than 600,000 words in literary journals at or above the provincial level.
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