In the first year of Qianxing, in 1022 AD, the 55-year-old Song Zhenzong died, and the 12-year-old crown prince Zhao Zhen succeeded to the throne as Song Renzong. At this time, the 31-year-old Yan Shu had already achieved the position of Hanlin Bachelor, and the treatment of the deputy department level. When Emperor Zhenzong of Song died, he left a will and asked Empress Liu to temporarily listen to the government. Liu E,during the imperial title system, Nian Yanshu taught the crown prince Zhao Zhen in the Eastern Palace for many years, gave him an additional official, and was promoted to a position in the middle of the affairs, slightly higher than the level of the main department, and the actual position was that of the judges in the ministry, responsible for giving state assessment officials, drawing up dispatches, equivalent to the work of the current organization department, a very important post. In the following years, Empress Liu, Emperor Renzong, and Yan Shu were all at peace. In 1025, Yan Shu was promoted again to the position of Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission at the age of 35 because of his participation in the compilation of the True Records of the True Sect and the fellow teacher of Emperor Renzong's teachings. Like Fan Zhongyan, who was 54 years old and was the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, Bao Zheng only arrived at this position at the age of 62, and at that time he was also serving as a waiter in the Punishment Department, and the three ministries of public security, procuratorate, and law were all under the control of Yan Shu. From this, it can be seen that although Zhenzong has died, Yan Shu, as an imperial master, has been treated more than enough. Why was Yan Shu, who was so favored, later degraded three times?
The first time I was degraded, because I beat people, Yan Shu, who has always been rigorous in doing things, why did he suddenly hit people? In fact, "beating people" is a show, which not only shows Emperor Renzong that he is the imperial party, but also saves the face of Empress Liu. Because Empress Liu wanted to appoint Zhang Qi as chancellor, Yan Shu objected, believing that Zhang Qi was not worthy, and Liu E insisted, so the two people had a contradiction. Afterwards, one day when Yan Shu went to court, he suddenly beat the attendant who was late in sending Wat to the court, which was the board that the minister was holding in his hand when he went to the court, and when he went down, the attendant was knocked out of two front teeth, and Yushi Cao Xiugu played an impeachment on this, Yan Shu asked himself to be demoted and demoted, and Empress Liu naturally demoted him to Xuanzhou, and then changed to Ying Tianfu and became the secretary of the municipal party committee. This time being demoted did little harm to Yan Shu's official position, and Ying Tianfu was originally the land of Longxing of Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, Song Prefecture, which was upgraded during the song Zhenzong years and was also a rich place at that time. Two years later, in 1028, the 38-year-old Yan Shu was recalled to Beijing to serve as a servant of the Imperial History Department. A year later, Yan Shu was reappointed as a soldier's attendant, a senior government minister, and a bachelor's degree in Hanlin's attendant and secretary supervisor.
The second time he was degraded, he went with the flow. In 1032, at the age of 41, Yan Shu was promoted to the post of Governor of the People's Republic of China (Vice Chancellor) jiashang Shu Zuo Cheng (加尚書左丞), equivalent to the current vice premier of the State Council. In March 1033, Empress Liu dressed in a costume to pay homage to the Temple, but died not long after. After Emperor Renzong of Song took power, the first thing he did was to demote all the ministers appointed by the empress dowager to the localities, and Yan Shu was not spared, taking the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites and taking up the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, and took up the post of Jiangning Prefecture (江宁府, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), which was soon changed to Bozhou (bozhou, Anhui), and later took the title of Shangshu of the Punishment Department and served in Chen Prefecture (present-day Zhoukou City, Henan). Yan Shu was released this time for 5 years. In 1038, when Yan Shu was 48 years old, Emperor Renzong of Song recruited him back to Beijing with the appointment of Yushi Zhongcheng (御史中丞) and the appointment of the Three Envoys. Within two years, he was promoted to prime minister, equivalent to the current premier of the State Council, which was the peak of Yan Shu's power.
The third time he was degraded, it was a disaster of innocence. The cause of the incident is the famous "Tanuki cat for prince" incident in history. In the fourth year of the Qing calendar, in 1044 AD, the Fan Zhongyan clique implemented the "Qingli New Deal" for nearly a year, but because it violated the interests of the aristocratic bureaucracy, it was obstructed and ended in failure. Song Renzong proposed to depose Ouyang Xiu, which was supported by the centrist Yan Shu, at this time Cai Xiang, who was also a reformer, stood up to defend Ouyang Xiu, but Yan Shu still demanded that Ouyang Xiu be released, which angered the reformists and others, and Cai Xiang and Sun Fu and others wrote a letter to poke out the matter of Li Chenfei's epitaph. Historically, Song Renzong did not know about his birth mother before this, because cai Xiang and others wrote to him, and at the same time, Zhao Yuanyu, the eighth uncle of Song Renzong (the prototype of the Eight Sages King in the TV series), also reported the incident, and after Song Renzong knew about it, he felt very heartache and guilt for his birth mother Li Chenfei. As a result, Li Chenfei's epitaph was written by Yan Shu, who wrote a paragraph on the epitaph: one daughter, early death, and childlessness. Emperor Renzong was furious when he saw this, and eventually dismissed Yan Shu and demoted him to Yingzhou (颍州, in modern Fuyang, Anhui).
Yan Shu was 54 years old, and this release was ten years, until 1054 AD, when Yan Shu, who was already 64 years old, was allowed to return to Beijing due to illness. Emperor Renzong left Yan Shu behind, made him an attendant of The Imperial Household, explained the scriptures to himself, and visited Emperor Renzong every five days, still treating him according to the etiquette of the prime minister. The following year, Yan Shu died of illness at the age of 65. At this point, the famous prime minister who continuously transported talents for the Northern Song Dynasty completed his legendary life. Looking back, in the Song Dynasty, an era when there were as many literati as the stars, Yan Shu was a very colorful stroke between them.
Next issue: Watch the wonderful story of Yan Shu and his protégés Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Han Qi and others who fell in love and killed each other.
Image resources come from the Internet, if there is infringement, please inform us by private message.