Among the eight masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, there were three people from the same family, they were Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Rui father and son. Among the three fathers and sons, Su Shi's fame is the highest. Not only are there many popular chapters left behind, but there are also many anecdotes. The second was his father, Su Xun, whose "Treatise on the Six Kingdoms" was selected for the middle school Chinese textbook. The weakest sense of existence is Su Rui.
Whenever he is mentioned, everyone's first impression is: Su Shi's younger brother. The second thing that comes to mind is one of the eight masters of the Tang and Song dynasties. As for what works or political achievements he had, no one knows. It can be said that Su Rui has been shrouded in the shadow of his brother all his life. So what was it like to be Su Dongpo's younger brother? Su Rui said that he was very sad, and he could not finish his brother all his life.
The brothers entered the official arena
Su Rui and his brother Su Shi took part in the Rebbe Examination in the second year of Jiayou (1057), when Ouyang Xiuzhi gongju, their brothers were placed in the high ranks, and Su Rui was named Wujia. Later, due to the death of their mother, the three fathers and sons returned to Shudi. In the fifth year of Jiayou, Su Rui was awarded the title of chief bookkeeper of Shichi County, Henan Province, and he was also mentioned that he should be "talented and knowledgeable and maoming in the physical subject" and take the examination for the same year. The so-called "examination of the system of science", a bit like the selection of civil servants today, but there is no fixed time, decided by the emperor, and held from time to time. In addition to officials who are already serving in government departments, there are also some non-official positions.
In August of the sixth year of Jiayou, Su Rui took the temple examination and did something that was even more cattle than his brother Su Shi. In the examination paper, he pointed out that the elderly Song Renzong was dimwitted and incompetent, sounded like a dog and a horse, and spoiled the adulterer. The government and the public had two different opinions about him: the faction led by Sima Guang believed that Although Su Rui had a somewhat reckless personality, he was a righteous person, pointed out the crux of the imperial court, and could put him in the fourth class. The Third Division made Cai Xiang also try to protect Su Rui. However, the first examiner Hu Su, however, believed that Su Rui did not respect Song Renzong and insisted on deposing him. In the end, Song Renzong, in order to avoid the people saying that he was careful, still agreed to Sima Guang's approach and listed Su Rui as inferior.
Soon after, Su Rui was appointed as the trial secretary of the provincial school secretary and the military governor of Shangzhou. After the death of his father, Su Rui shouldered the heavy responsibility of taking care of his brother. After the Wutai poetry case broke out, Su Shi was arrested and imprisoned. When Su Ru heard the news, he immediately took two actions. On the one hand, he sent Pegasus to Huzhou to report the letter, so that his brother could have a psychological preparation. On the other hand, he wrote to the imperial court and asked to use his official position to atone for his brother's sins.
your brother with a broken heart
Su Rui's application was not approved by the imperial court, but he was indeed implicated by his brother and demoted to the salt and liquor tax of Jianjun Prefecture (監筠州, in modern Gao'an, Jiangxi), and could not be promoted for five years. Later, Su Shi thought that he would undoubtedly die, and wrote two poems to his brother Su Rui as his last words in prison. After Song Shenzong saw it, he was touched by the brotherhood in the poem and hesitated a little more. Coupled with the intercession of Wang Anshi, the empress dowager and others, Su Shi was able to save his life.
After the death of Song Shenzong, the old party began to govern. Su Rui was regarded as a member of the old party because he had opposed Wang Anshi's "Green Shoots Law" once. From then on, his official fortunes flourished all the way to the Taizhong Doctor and the Guard Attendant. Later, the imperial court took Tejia Suru as a protector because of the suburbs of heaven and earth, and entered the founding of the country, and actually sealed 200 households. Su Shi had also opposed Wang Anshi before, so he was also briefly reused after Sima Guang and others were revived.
It was only when Su Shi saw that Sima Guang's old party was frantically suppressing the new party and abolishing all new laws, and he thought that these people were no different from the "royal party", so he once again put forward advice to the imperial court and attacked the corrupt policy of the old party. So Su Shi was once again suppressed and degraded. During Su Shi's imprisonment and debasement, his wife and children were all taken care of by his younger brother Su Rui. Su Rui himself has 10 children, plus Su Shi's children, a family of dozens of people, even if they are officials, the economic pressure is also very large.
During the period when both brothers were degraded, after Su Rui arranged his family, he also had to go thousands of miles to send his brother's family to him. Su Shi was demoted to the road without silver, and he also asked his brother to borrow it. Everyone hates the "Brother Demon", but Su Rui has become a complete "Brother Demon". And Su Shi did not seem to know the situation of his brothers, and during his tenure in Huizhou, he was enthusiastic about public welfare and built bridges and paved roads. The local government did not have enough money, so he opened his mouth to his brother to "borrow". Not only that, he also mobilized his sister-in-law to donate the things rewarded by the palace to help the people of Huizhou build roads.
It is really Su Rui's daughter-in-law who has a good temper, and when she encounters a person with a bad temper, it is estimated that she directly scolded the street. Even if the pit brother is concerned, he actually does not even let go of the private property of his sister-in-law, who is such a big uncle? But Su Rui couldn't help it, after all, after his father died, he was left with only this one brother. Even if your life is hard, you still have to help a big brother. Therefore, Su Shi also cherished the brotherhood with his brother and often wrote poems to give to him.
The catchy "Water Tune Song Head" was composed by Su Shi because he missed his brother. Before his death, the person Su Shi most wanted to see was also his brother, but unfortunately he failed to do so. And Su Rui's life is also inseparable from his brother, and he has been on the road of degrading officials, scattering wealth, and fishing for his brother. It is the motivation for him to climb up all the time, all in order to make it more convenient to catch his brother in the future. After all, there is such a brother, it is really unconscious!