Recently, the popularity of the costume TV series "Qing Ping Le" has made many viewers have a strong interest in the historical figures of the Song Dynasty. In the play, Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and other people are related to the community and are models of loyalty and patriotism. Xia Chun, on the other hand, was an old rapist and a traitor. So can we think like this: Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu are gentlemen, and Xia Zhen is a villain? In fact, the answer is not so simple. Reading the history books tonight, I will talk to you about what kind of a character Han Qi is in history.
Han Qi's life experience is roughly similar to that in "Qing Ping Le", singing in the early years as a leader in the imperial examination, and then having a smooth ride in the official field. In 1040, the "Song-Xia War" broke out. At the age of 32, Han Qi was sent to the northwest as deputy commander-in-chief to preside over military affairs. In the "Battle of Haoshuichuan", Han Qi made a major decision-making mistake, resulting in a major defeat of the Song army. However, Song Renzong cherished talents and only let Han Qi demote him to remain in office.
It is worth mentioning that during the period when he was in charge of military affairs in the northwest, Han Qi had a conflict with the famous general Di Qing. At that time, Han Qi planned to behead a subordinate of Di Qing's men named Jiao Yong. Di Qing bowed to Han Qi and said, "Jiao Yong is a good boy, please let the adults fall lightly." Han Qi said with a cold smile, "The one who sings in the name of Yuanyuan outside the Donghua Gate is a good boy, and a simple takeshi is also worthy of being called a good boy?" So he beheaded Jiao in front of Di Qing.
In 1043, Emperor Renzong of Song adopted the advice of Fan Zhongyan and others to implement the "New Deal for celebrating the calendar" in China, and the 35-year-old Han Qi became the backbone of the New Deal as a privy councillor. Later, the New Deal failed, and Han Qi's career suffered a serious setback, and he went out of Yangzhou as a senior scholar. During his time at the local level, Han Qi's performance was remarkable. In 1056, Han Qi was recalled to the Capital Division and served as the Third Envoy, the Privy Councillor, and the Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (Zai Chancellor).
All three sons of Emperor Renzong of Song died prematurely, so in emperor Renzong's dynasty, the issue of imperial heirs remained unresolved for a long time. When Han Qi was in charge, Emperor Renzong of Song was old and often ill, so the courtiers led by Han Qi wrote to the emperor to request that the emperor establish his adopted son Zhao Zongshi (a cousin of Song Renzong) as an imperial heir at an early date. In the end, Song Renzong realized that he could no longer have a biological son in this life, so he had to make Zhao Zongshi the crown prince and change his name to Zhao Shu. A year later, Emperor Renzong of Song died, and Zhao Shu succeeded to the throne as a crown prince for Emperor Yingzong of Song. Han Qi was also particularly valued by Song Yingzong because of his meritorious service.
Up to this point, Han Qi's overall performance is basically in line with the demeanor of a gentleman, and he is most important to the country in his dealings with the world. However, in the next step, Han Qi's behavior began to be a little disdainful.
At the beginning of His reign, Emperor Yingzong of Song exhibited various absurd acts, such as refusing to attend Song Renzong's funeral on the grounds of being ill and waiting for his adoptive mother, Empress Cao. Empress Cao, who had always been generous in her life, was very angry about this, so she asked Han Qi how she had recommended such a person to inherit the throne, and could be rude to Emperor Daxing and his mother to this extent. However, to Empress Cao's surprise, Han Qi, who had always regarded herself as a humble gentleman, said to her: "If something happens to the official family, your position will be unstable." (If the official family is unattended, the empress dowager is not stable.) This sentence obviously has a bit of a threatening connotation in it. After hearing this, Empress Cao lowered her face and said, "What Han Xianggong said, I am naturally attentive to the official family." (Xiang Gong is what he says, his own family is more attentive.) Seeing that Empress Cao was hardening, Han Qi did not encourage him, and he continued: "If the empress dowager takes care of it, then everyone will naturally take care of it." "Turn around and go."
Why did Han Qi defend Song Yingzong so much and even confront Empress Cao? In fact, the reason is very simple. Song Yingzong is the candidate he pushed forward with all his might, and they are both proud of each other and lose both. If Song Yingzong was finished, he Han Qi would naturally be unlucky. Therefore, when they sit in a boat, they must do their best to maintain the stability of the ship, even if they tear the face of the gentleman.
Because Song Yingzong's performance was too excessive, many of the imperial court ministers who had supported his ascension to the throne could not stand it, and Empress Cao also had the idea of deposing the emperor and replacing him. However, Empress Cao had been living in the harem for a long time and had little political experience, so as a result, Han Qi suppressed all the objections as the prime minister, and at the same time, even coaxed Empress Cao to tell Empress Cao about the serious consequences of deposing the emperor, saying that Empress Cao was in tears, and whimpered: "The old body is completely intolerable, and it must be the master of justice!" ”
Soon, Song Yingzong was clamoring to promote his biological father, Zhao Yun, the Prince of Pu. Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu, and others voted for Song Yingzong's favor and advocated that King Pu be honored as "Emperor Kao", while the officials Sima Guang, Jia Dian, Lü Jie, Fan Chunren, Lü Dafang, and others advocated that Song Renzong was the "Imperial Examination", and that King Pu could only be referred to as "Emperor Bo". This matter is known in history as the "Pu Discussion", and after 18 months of debate, the final result was that Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and other zai ministers won, and the title of Zhao Yunrang, the king of Pu, was upgraded to "emperor", and the names of his three wives were upgraded to "hou". Yan Guan Lü Said helplessly: "Guan Han Qi's talents are not as arrogant as Huo Guang, Li Deyu, Ding Zhi, and Cao Jiao. "Huo Guang, Li Deyu, Ding Zhi, Cao Yong, and others were all powerful ministers in various historical periods, and they all did things that controlled the government, deceived the superiors and deceived the subordinates, and persecuted their colleagues. Han Qi's ability was far inferior to that of a few of them, but the degree of obnoniousness was far greater than that of these people.
In history, when evaluating the zaizhi ministers of the Song Renzong dynasty, Xia Chun was often classified as the number one villain, and Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu, and others were listed as humble gentlemen. But in fact, if we talk about contributions to the country, Xia Zhen may not be inferior to Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu. If the party is to fight against the same and do whatever it takes to benefit themselves, Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu, and others will not lose to Xia Chen. Who is a gentleman and who is a villain, in fact, it is really difficult to say.
References: History of the Song Dynasty, Continuation of the Zhizhi TongjianChang Edition