Kou Zhun was a well-known sage in the Northern Song Dynasty, he participated in the imperial examination at the age of 19, entered the high school, and since then entered the career path, initially serving as a local Zhi County, 30 years old to the same zhiyuan (erpin), and finally the official worshiped the prime minister, Kou Zhun was promoted at an astonishing speed during his official period, but his career path was very bumpy, after three ups and downs, 61 years old was exiled to remote Leizhou, 62 years old guest died in his hometown. The most tragic thing is that after Kou Zhun's death, because the imperial court gave too little silver, he could only be buried in Luoyang, and only moved back to his hometown ten years later.
(1) Kou Zhun was born into a family of officials and eunuchs, and had a straight personality
Kou Zhun was a native of present-day Weinan, Shaanxi (古下邽), whose ancestors were a famous and prestigious family, and his ancestor Su Chasheng held the position of Sikou during the Western Zhou Dynasty, and later because of his many great achievements, the imperial court gave him an official position as a surname. Kou Zhun's father, Kou Xiang, was also very powerful, and during the later Jin dynasty, he entered the Jia Branch in high school, which is also known as the Yuan.
Kou Zhun inherited his father's fine genes, and was clever and studious from an early age, but he had a straight personality, a short temper, and a strong sense of principle. Kou Zhun took the imperial examination at the age of 19 and entered the high school, which can be described as talented. Song Taizong selected soldiers to personally interview, ancient times called "palace test", some people will give Kou Zhun advice, the emperor likes experienced elders as officials, too young most of them are not hired, it is best not to report the age. After hearing this, Kou Zhun said, "I have not yet entered the court as an official, so how can I deceive the emperor?" ”
Kou Zhun truthfully reported his age, and Song Taizong felt that he was very honest, so he made him the county commander of Badong County (正七品), and because of his good performance, he was successively promoted to the judge of salt and iron (from Liupin) and the Privy Counsellor (正三品).
(2) Kou Zhun was blunt to Song Taizong, and Song Taizong could not do without Kou Zhun
Song Taizong imitated Tang Taizong as soon as it came into effect, with Tang Taizong Li Shimin as an idol, and everyone knows that Tang Taizong was known for being good at receiving advice. In 989, Kou Zhun boldly advised Song Taizong, Song Taizong did not like to listen, turned around and was about to leave, Kou Zhun immediately went forward to drag Song Taizong's clothes and asked him not to leave, listening to him finish his words. Afterwards, Song Taizong was overjoyed, praised Kou Zhun's blunt words and dared to advise, and said: "I have Kou Zhun, just like Tang Taizong got Wei Zheng." On the surface, it seems that Song Taizong praised Kou Zhun, but in fact, the implication was that he compared himself to a generation of Saint Emperor Tang Taizong.
In 990, both Wang Huai and Zu Ji committed the crime of embezzlement, Wang Huai's circumstances were very serious, embezzlement amounted to tens of millions, and Zu Ji's bribes were not serious, because Wang Huai's brother Wang Wei was a governor, he was removed from office and reinstated as an official shortly after he was removed, and Zu Ji was sentenced to death.
Kou Zhun was furious when he knew this, and felt unfair for Zuji, and the next year, when a natural disaster occurred, Song Taizong summoned his courtiers to discuss how to deal with it, but Kou Zhun said: "The disaster was caused by the unfair reward and punishment of the imperial court", Song Taizong was very angry after hearing this, and turned around and left, which was the second time that Kou Zhun ran away from Emperor Taizong.
Afterwards, Emperor Taizong of Song summoned Kou Zhun to inquire about the specific situation, and Kou Zhun explained the bribery case of Zuji and Wang Huai to Emperor Taizong from beginning to end, and after hearing this, Emperor Taizong was happy in his heart, and he became more and more serious about Kou Zhun and promoted him to deputy envoy of the Privy Council, and later changed to the position of Tongzhi Yuanshi (正二品), and from then on Kou Zhun became a member of the military and state affairs.
Once Kou Zhun was out playing, and suddenly a man from the side of the road chased his carriage and shouted long live, this matter was known to Kou Zhun's nemesis Zhang Xun, who made a small report to Song Taizong and added oil and vinegar to frame Kou Zhun. In a fit of rage, Emperor Taizong of Song drove Kou Zhun to Qingzhou to become the prefect. After Kou Zhun left, Emperor Taizong of Song missed him very much, and the next year he recalled Kou Zhun to the capital and conferred the title of Governor of zhengshi (正二品).
(3) Kou Zhun offended the traitorous minister Wang Qinruo and was degraded twice
In 997, Emperor Taizong of Song died, and his son Zhao Heng took the throne as Emperor Zhenzong of Song. After Emperor Zhenzong ascended the throne, the Liao repeatedly attacked the Northern Song Dynasty from the south, and the Song court almost always spent money to buy peace. In 1004 AD, the Liao army marched south again, attacking the city all the way to the city of Liaozhou, directly threatening the capital Kaifeng, and the imperial court was in a panic.
At the critical moment, wang Qinruo proposed to Song Zhenzong to move the capital, and Kou Zhun resolutely opposed it, saying: "Those who propose to move the capital can be executed, the families of the soldiers are in Kaifeng, if the emperor moves the capital, they are worried about their families and do not want to go with you, if the emperor is personally driven, it can improve the morale of the soldiers." In this way, Kou Zhun offended Wang Qinruo.
Song Zhenzong reluctantly agreed to the imperial conquest, on the way to The Prefecture of Liaozhou repeatedly retreated, but was opposed by Kou Zhun, Zhenzong came to Liaoyuan, how could not go, it was Kou Zhun who forced him to the front line, and sure enough, as Kou Zhun expected, as soon as Emperor Zhenzong appeared on the front line, the generals shouted long live, thinking that the emperor shared happiness and suffering with them, and morale instantly became high.
Later, Emperor Zhenzong entrusted the front-line task to Kou Zhun, and he hid in the city and refused to show his face. As a result, the two sides fought, the Song army shot the marshal of the Liao army to death, the two armies confronted each other for a long time in Liaoyuan, Zhenzong had no intention of resisting the war, proposed peace, the Liao army demanded that the Song court return the "land of Guannan", Zhenzong did not agree, the two sides later talked about fighting, and finally reached an agreement.
Subsequently, Zhenzong sent Cao Yong to negotiate indemnity with the Liao army, and Cao Yong asked Zhenzong how much money he was going to give, and Zhenzong said, "There is really no way, one million taels of silver can also be." Cao Yu was stopped by Kou Zhun as soon as he went out, asking him how much the emperor was going to pay, and after Kou Zhun knew the compensation, he said to Cao Yu that he would only give the Liao army 300,000 taels, and if the negotiation could not be concluded, your head would not be protected. As a result, Cao took advantage of the success of the negotiations, and the Liao army accepted 300,000 yuan in reparations and signed an "alliance with the Song court".
After Emperor Zhenzong of Song returned to Kaifeng, Wang Qinruo began to plan to overthrow Kou Zhun, and he made a rumor to Emperor Zhenzong: "Does Your Majesty really think that Kou Zhun has merit?" In the Spring and Autumn Period, the alliance under the city is regarded as a disgrace, and the "alliance under the city" is the alliance under the city, and now all the civil and military officials believe that Kou Zhun is not afraid of danger, and His Majesty is useless. ”
After hearing this, Zhenzong began to lose trust in Kou Zhun, and later Wang Qinruo repeatedly told Emperor Zhenzong about Kou Zhun, and in 1006 Kou Zhun was demoted to Shaanzhou to become Zhizhou.
(4) Offending Ding
Both Ding Shu and Wang Qinruo were flattering men who would please Emperor Zhenzong at all costs, and even engaged in superstitious activities. In his later years, Zhenzong became more and more confused, and almost obeyed Ding Shu and Wang Qinruo. In 1019, Ding Zhun invited Kou Zhun to return to the imperial court as prime minister in the name of participating in the government affairs, and Ding said that he wanted to be the prime minister, but his qualifications were not enough, especially in terms of prestige, so he invited Kou Zhun to return to the dynasty only to attract Kou Zhun to strengthen his own power and use Kou Zhun's prestige to serve his power.
In fact, Ding Zhun's small abacus was very clear to people, and Kou Zhun's students saw through Ding Shu's conspiracy and urged Kou Zhun not to enter Beijing, but Kou Zhun did not accept it and insisted on entering Beijing.
After Kou Zhun entered the capital, Ding Zhun began to woo Kou Zhun and wanted to form a party with him, and at a banquet, Ding Yu condescended to give Kou Zhun a soup on his beard, but Kou Zhun reprimanded Ding Zhun in front of everyone for having lost the body of a minister, and Ding Yu was furious and vowed to take revenge on Kou Zhun.
(5) Formed a vendetta against Empress Liu and was degraded three times
In his later years, Emperor Zhenzong of Song was not in good health, and the major affairs of the court were handled by Empress Liu, who almost obeyed Ding's words, which caused Kou Zhun's dissatisfaction, and he and Wang Dan and others jointly played the song, asking Zhenzong to let the crown prince supervise the country, and suggested that Gangzheng Bu'a's ministers assist the prince, and Zhenzong approved the ministers' performance.
Empress Liu's mother's family violated the laws of the Song Dynasty, and Emperor Zhenzong had already ordered pardon, but Kou Zhun was not happy, and he insisted that the prince break the law and the common people, and dispose of Empress Liu's mother's family according to law, thus offending Empress Liu.
Soon Kou Zhun's request to the crown prince to supervise the state was known to Empress Liu, who was originally dissatisfied with Kou Zhun, and coupled with the fact that she asked the crown prince to supervise the country, it completely angered Empress Liu, and Empress Liu took the initiative to act strongly, demoting Kou Zhun to the position of prince taifu, and Ding Yu took the opportunity to join forces with Cao to frame Kou Zhun for rebellion, and Kou Zhun was driven out of Kaifeng.
(6) After three uprisings and three rearfalls, Kou Zhunke died elsewhere
History of Song. The biography of Kou Zhun records that when Kou Zhun was degraded, Emperor Zhenzong was bedridden and did not know it, and he asked the people around him where Kou Zhun had gone, and no one around the attendants dared to speak up. On the day that Kou Zhun left Kaifeng, the ministers did not dare to send off Ding Zhi because they were afraid of Ding Zhi. After Ding Zhi was promoted to prime minister, he launched a frenzied revenge on Kou Zhun and degraded Kou Zhun again and again.
In 1022 AD, the wronged Kou Zhun was relegated to the remote Leizhou, after Kou Zhun came to Leizhou, he did not even have a decent residence, the local people had long heard that Kou Zhun was a person, they all admired him, and everyone took the initiative to help him build a house and settle down.
After Kou Zhun was exiled to Leizhou for a year, depression became a disease, and finally he could not afford to fall ill, and in 1023 AD, Kou Zhun died of illness at the age of 62, and a generation of famous ministers died in this way, which made people regret.
After Kou Zhun's death, his coffin did not return to his hometown in time, because the money allocated by the imperial court was limited, and it was used up on the way back home, and could only be temporarily buried in Luoyang. Ten years later, Emperor Renzong of Song rehabilitated Zhaoxue for Kou Zhun and moved Kou Zhun's coffin back to his hometown. Kou Zhun lived a straight life, and he finally paid the price for his geng zhi.