Fan Chunren (1027-1101 AD), courtesy name Yaofu, was the second son of Fan Zhongyan, a famous politician and literary scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, and a prominent minister in the political arena of the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty.
The five dynasties of Li Renzong, Yingzong, Shenzong, Zhezong, and Huizong served for more than 50 years, adhering to the lofty ideal of Confucianism of "inner saint and outer king" throughout his life, diligent in government and love for the people, loyal and outspoken, loyal to the country, generous and benevolent, and actively tried to smooth out the fierce party struggle through his own efforts, which had a great influence on the political stage of the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty.
Education in adolescence
Fan Chunren has been intelligent and alert since childhood, knowing how to read at the age of five, and playing with a group of children at the age of eight, he can explain the content of the book. Fan Zhongyan, who came from a lonely background, understood the importance of frugality very well, especially opposed to extravagance and waste. The strict and simple family style shaped Fan Chunren's character of advocating thrift, honesty and self-preservation, and had a profound impact on his life.
Fan Chunren inherited the traditional Confucian filial piety from his father, Fan Zhongyan. When the imperial court appointed Fan Chunren to Wujinzhi County in Changzhou in the first year of Emperor Ku (1049 AD), Fan Chunren "did not go as a distant relative", and later changed to Xu Governor Ge, and he refused to take up the post.
Fan Chunren carefully supports his parents and is also full of love for his brother. The eldest brother Chunyou suffered from heart disease in his early years, and Chunren treated his brother like a father, and has always personally served his brother's medicinal diet and taken care of him at all times.
Song Ku recommended Chunren to test for the position of the library, and issued an edict to the bachelor's college, but Chunren politely declined because of his brother Chunyou's illness. Most of the people of the Northern Song Dynasty regarded it as a virtue not to be pro-official, and Fan Chunren would never spoil a good family style because of high-ranking official Houlu.
In the fourth year of the Qing calendar (1044 AD), Fan Zhongyan wrote the ancient famous "Notes on Yueyang Lou", in which the noble moral sentiment of "first the world is worried and worried, and then the world is happy and happy", always cultivating Fan Chunren's heart.
Fan Zhong's principle of "no resentment against one person" also had a profound impact on Fan Chunren's life, cultivating Fan Chunren's broad mind and maverick personality. Forgiveness and forgiveness were not only an important character that influenced Fan Chunren's life, but he also often used it to exhort his children to "be able to blame oneself with a responsible heart, forgive oneself with one's heart, and not suffer from the status of a sage." ”
The reason why Fan Chunren was able to become an extremely powerful prime minister step by step, in addition to the good family education he received at an early age, the education of Mr. Song Chusan and his mentor-friend relationship with Li Liang also laid a solid foundation for Confucianism. Hu Yuan (993-1059 AD), courtesy name Yizhi, was a native of Hailing (present-day Taizhou, Jiangsu).
Hu Nuan is famous as an educator, and the core of her educational thinking is "clear body and application", and in Huzhou Prefecture learned to establish the scriptures and the two zhai, the former teaching scriptures, the latter teaching civil affairs, military, water conservancy, arithmetic and other disciplines.
Among Hu Wan's scholarship, the study of "Yi" is the most prominent, and when he interprets "Yi", he often talks in connection with ancient and modern personnel and current affairs, which has a strong color of application through the world. This time-tested teaching method has cultivated a large number of talents, such as Fan Chunren, Qian Zao, and Qian Gongfu.
Mr. Song Chusan (Sun Fu, Shi Jie, Li Liang) and Li Liang were both wise men under Fan Zhongyan, and they were very close to Fan Zhongyan, "talking about morality with their children day and night". Their academic ideas had a relatively important impact on the ethical concept of loyalty and filial piety of the Fan Chunren brothers, the foundation of the world's application, and the self-cultivation of the "inner saint and outer king".
Fan Chunren's main political activities in the Emperor Renzong of Song and the Emperor Yingzong of Song
The reign of Emperor Renzong of Song and Emperor Yingzong of Song was a relatively important period in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty. Mr. Zhang Qifan believes that the two dynasties of Renzong and Yingzong can best reflect the characteristics of "the emperor and the scholar ruling the world together", and the imperial power, the power of the minister, and the power of the Taiwan counsel are tripod, and the checks and balances are mutually balanced, so that the political Z presents a relaxed situation, laying the foundation for the "hundred schools of thought contending".
And "the famous man of the world, the constant suffering of the law is also unchanged." Therefore, carrying out reforms and rescuing the crisis has become the consensus of the great doctors of the government. This analysis should be said to be reasonable. Fan Chunren's more than 50-year journey began during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song.
1. Pham Chun-in's main political activities in the Renzong Dynasty
The Song Dynasty, which lasted for more than 60 years from the founding of Taizu to the accession of Emperor Renzong of Song, entered the middle stage, and while the appearance of prosperity and stability, many shortcomings began to emerge, which were the result of the strengthening of centralized measures in the early Song Dynasty.
While accomplishing the great cause of reunification, the two dynasties of Song Taizu and Song Taizong recovered, on the one hand, in order to prevent the recurrence of the situation of separatism and separation, on the one hand, they seized local military power, financial power, and political power, and adopted the methods of "strong cadres and weak branches" and "guarding the inside and outside" to consolidate the dominance of the central power;
On the other hand, the means of expanding the imperial examination and dividing power were adopted to expand the ranks of civilian officials and weaken the power of military generals, resulting in the growing culture of emphasizing civility over military force in the whole society, and the bureaucracy was too bloated.
Combined with the above two aspects, it is inevitable that the country of "poverty" and "weakness" is inevitable. In order to solve the financial difficulties caused by the "three redundancies", some people with lofty ideals have successively put forward reform proposals, represented by the "Qingli New Deal" chaired by Fan Zhonghuan and others.
The new Qingli policy gave hope to Song Renzong, who was eager to change the status quo. For the ten things advocated by Fan Zhongyan with the reform of the rule of officials as the core, in addition to restoring the military system of the government, Emperor Renzong of Song basically accepted it, and successively issued edicts from October of the third year of the Qing calendar (1045 AD) to implement comprehensive reforms.
However, due to the uproar over Teng Zijing, Ouyang Xiu, and Shi Jie in the New Deal clique, some measures in the New Deal in the capital were opposed by Chen Zhizhong's old ministers, and the radical behavior of the "gentleman's party" also aroused Song Renzong's alarm and disgust.
Emperor Renzong became more and more tired of the endless quarrels between the courtiers, and after thinking about it repeatedly, he finally chose the old ministers who held the weight, and the new Qingli policy ended in failure.
Because during the Qing calendar year, he opened up his way to speak, reused the Taiwan advice, and allowed the Taiwan adviser to hear a word, resulting in officials being impeached as a common matter in the imperial court, and Emperor Renzong often regretted it.
Although Fan Chunren had already made his father's Yin Tai Chang Temple Taizhu in the third year of the Qing calendar (1045 AD), for Fan Chunren, who had great ambitions in the chest ring, he had to rely on his true talents and practical learning to get ahead.
After unswerving hard study, coupled with profound family learning and the teachings of Mr. Song Chusan, these three questions are not difficult for Fan Chunren, who "has no long language for the text, and is close to the matter".
Fan Chunren, who strictly adhered to filial piety, did not become an official until his father's death, and in the second year of He (1055 AD), he was appointed to Xiangchengzhi County in Ruzhou with the official rank of secretary of the province of Shuzoro. Fan Chunren inherited and carried forward the Confucian idea of "people and nobles", and he believed that the criterion for judging merit should be based on the interests and losses of the common people.
Seeing that the people of Xiangcheng were living in poverty and living very hard, Chunren was also quite worried about this. During his term of office, he took the enrichment of the people as his own responsibility and advised the people to plant mulberry and raise silkworms and develop the economy. Later, the people's lives gradually improved and benefited a lot. After Fan Chunren left office, the people still missed him. In order to express their gratitude to Dade, they called the mulberry forest they planted "Writing Forest" by their official name.
Fan Chunren is well aware of the sufferings of the people and attaches great importance to the interests of the people. Jia Yao, who knew Kaifeng Province, greatly appreciated Fan Chunren's talents, and in the seventh year of Jiaku (1062 AD), he promoted Xiangyi County, Kaifeng Province. According to the people's report, when a guard herded a horse, he trampled on the people's field, and Chunren was very angry and "caught a man's rod."
At that time, the pasture land was not subordinate to the county, and the head of the guard reported the matter to the emperor and demanded that Fan Chunren be punished for the crime of overstepping his duties. Fan Chunren was not afraid, and calmly said: "If you don't know that the guards are not the petty officials who dare to punish, but the raising of soldiers is out of the second tax, the second tax is out of the people's land, and the guards herd horses and invade the people's land, then the second tax will make him as a county order, the duty is to raise the people, if he sits idly by, use the county order" The emperor was relieved, so he issued an edict to obey it, starting from Fan Chunren, the pastureland is subordinate to the county government.
An important aspect of the "loyalty" advocated by Confucianism is to do one's own will and do one's public office wholeheartedly, and Fan Chunren personally practices this moral code.
When the practice of Chongwen suppressing martial arts became increasingly prevalent, Fan Chunren, as an official close to the people, led the people of Xiangyi to update the school buildings and improve the conditions for running the school in order to allow the children of ordinary people to enter and receive education.
In addition to handling political affairs, Fan Chunren often visited schools and personally advised the people to receive education. Fan Chunren has served in the local government for more than ten years and is appreciated by the people.
2. Fan Chunren's main political activities in the Yingzong Dynasty
In the eighth year of Jiayu (1063 AD), Emperor Renzong of Song died, and Emperor Yingzong Zhao Shu ascended the throne. Yingzong Zhao Shu was the grandson of Zhenzong's brother Zhao Zhifen the Shang King and the son of Zhao Yunrang the Prince of Pu'an Yi, not the son of Renzong, and originally had no relationship with the emperor, but fortunately he inherited the throne as a patriarch.
Yingzong Zhao Shu, on the one hand, like his stepfather Renzong, was also an emperor who wanted to make a difference, but unfortunately, he was weak and sick, and he fell seriously ill at the beginning of his accession to the throne, and had to be obeyed by Empress Dowager Cao;
On the other hand, it seems that all of the filial piety of Zhao Yunrang the Prince of Pu'an Yi was passed on to Emperor Yingzong, and his almost paranoid adherence to filial piety made him contradict Empress Dowager Cao at the beginning of his accession to the throne, and soon after becoming pro-government, he performed a farce that shocked the government and the public to posthumously give away the name of his father, that is, the "Pu Yi dispute".
Fan Chunren, who was a royal historian at the time, was also inevitably involved in this political whirlpool, and his fate was closely linked to the "Pu Yi".
(1) Initial involvement in Taiwan
In a society where the authoritarian system is dominant, in order to avoid the loss of control of certain power and ensure the long-term peace and stability of the country, the establishment of a supervision system came into being.
The Sui and Tang dynasties established a relatively complete system of Taiwanese advice, and the imperial historical platform and the advisory court complemented each other, strengthening the role of the central administrative supervision organs in the process of deliberation and decision-making.
After the founding of the Zhao and Song dynasties, the Taiwan advisory system faced a problem of reconstruction and improvement. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, internal and external wars were raging one after another, and Taizu had no time to take care of this matter, "the palace was abolished, the edict was not properly formulated, and the matter did not dare to seal and refute it, and the posthumous did not dare to bluntly say its loss," and "the imperial history cannot be played." The monitoring system is very inadequate.
Starting with Emperor Taizong, he gradually paid attention to the role of the Taiji, and Zhenzong began to rectify the Imperial Historical Observatory and the Imperial Temple, so that the Taijong Counsellor entered a normal operating system. The perfect period of the Song Dynasty taijian system was in the Renzong Dynasty, which was also the golden period when the Song Dynasty taijian played a role.
As the eyes and ears of the emperor, the main purpose of the taijian is to expand the emperor's audiovisual and exercise the power of supervision and restraint over the prime minister and officials. Therefore, the emperor attached great importance to the selection and appointment of the Taiwan counselor, in addition to having the necessary qualifications, in the selection process, he must also ensure that one is to exclude the interference of Zaifu when recommending, and the other is that the emperor absolutely controls the decision-making power of the appointment of the Taiwan counselor.
The emperor's direct control over the appointment and removal of counsellors is a guarantee for the Taiwan counsellors to play the role of "the eyes and ears of the Son of Heaven". This control is not only manifested in the fact that the emperor appointed the emperor every time the promoter who recommended the Taiwan counselor, but also that the emperor sometimes personally appointed the Taiwan counselor.
In June of the second year of Zhiping (1065 AD), the Imperial Historical Stage "lacked two members, and the one who raised it was not listed, and Fan Chunren and Lü Dafang were ordered to defend themselves." Fan Chunren's appointment was only seven months after the previous one (in November of the first year of Zhiping, Fan Chunren had just been promoted from Tuntian Yuan Wailang Zhixiangyi County to Jiangdong Transfer Judge), and this promotion also shows Emperor Yingzong's trust and appreciation of Fan Chunren from one side.
Fan Chunren's entry into the Imperial History Platform was an important turning point in his life, not only did his work environment change from the local to the central government, but he also had more opportunities to express his speech and participate in political affairs.
In the Song Dynasty, the imperial history platform was in charge of "picketing officials and evil spirits, and punishing the right discipline", and its main functions included social functions such as supervision, justice, and participation in politics. The Taiwan Counsellor not only has the functions of advising the monarch and supervising the central and local officials, but also can participate in the affairs of the dynasty and agree on the legal system. This provides a good opportunity for the honest and outspoken Fan Chunren to play a role.
When Fan Chunren first entered the Imperial History Platform, he encountered something tricky. At the beginning of his reign, Emperor Yingzong appreciated Wang Zhuo, a scholar of Hanlin, and wanted to promote him to the rank of deputy privy councillor, but knowing that it was inappropriate to make Qian Gongfu, he returned the title and told the emperor that Wang Zhuo was light and shallow and could not be used.
Emperor Yingzong felt that his first appointment of ministers had been rejected, lost face greatly, and was very angry, and ordered that Qian Gongfu be demoted to the deputy envoy of the Chuzhou regiment. Unexpectedly, another Zhi Zu who was on duty at that time thought that the punishment was too heavy and refused to make a straw system.
Yingzong was furious, intending to depose Zu Wuxuan together. When the prime minister heard the news, he rushed to persuade him, and Yingzong agreed to let this old minister continue to stay in the two systems, but he would be fined thirty pounds of copper.
As an imperial historian, Fan Chunren had the responsibility and obligation to advise the monarch to change the edict when he encountered something that he deemed inappropriate. Therefore, he played twice and asked for Qian Gongfu's palace post to be reinstated. Yingzong did not agree, Fan Chunren spoke again, but Emperor Yingzong still did not agree.
I personally believe that there are three reasons that prompted Fan Chunren to spare no effort to intercede for Qian Gongfu:
First, he considered it clearly unconventional to appoint Wang as vice-chancellor. According to the custom of the Song Dynasty, officials serving as officials of the two provinces generally had to have experience in the outer counties, so as not to mix into the highest authority those who had no experience in governance and were greedy for pleasure, and Wang Zhuo "has not left the capital for thirty-five years since Dengke, and he has entered the path, so it can be known." ”
Emperor Yingzong, ignoring the rules of the imperial court and the opposition of his courtiers, entrusted the second government with a heavy responsibility to this person, and also forcibly deposed such dissidents. It is the duty of the imperial history to criticize this stubborn and rash approach.
Second, Fan Chunren and Qian Gongfu were both from Hu Wan's disciples. According to the "Song Yuanxue Case", in the second year of Xining, Shenzong asked Futang Liu Yi, "Who is the Hu (Yuanmen) person who is in the dynasty today?" "If Qian Zao's Yuandu, Sun Jue's Pure Ming, Fan Chunren's Zhiwen, and Qian Gongfu's Jane Understanding, they are all known to His Majesty."
Third, Fan Chunren and Qian Gongfu were both Jin Shi in the first year of the emperor's wither, and they had a deep friendship. According to the Song Dynasty Wang Biao's "Yan Yi Zhi Conspiracy Record", "At the beginning of the country, the Jin Shi period was collected, and the money was published in a small record with the second highest rate, and the affairs traveled Yan, or rich and lowly ranked, and there were few places, or poor and high ranking, as for the false beggars." ”
In the same year, the regular gatherings and banquets of the jinshi deepened the relationship between them, and once someone was belittled, it was also common for people to stand up and defend them in the same year.
(2) Emerging prominence
At the beginning of Yingzong's pro-government, Prime Minister Han Qi and others asked Yousi to discuss the title of Yingzong's biological father, King Pu'anyi, and Yingzong instructed that it be discussed after Renzong's funeral was completed.
In April of the second year of Zhiping (1065 AD), Emperor Yingzong issued an edict inviting ceremonies and officials above the rank to discuss the honor ceremony of King Pu'an Yi, which led to an eighteen-month controversy, known in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The discussion between the DPRK and China was noisy for a while, forming two factions with clear barriers. One faction was led by Hanlin bachelor Wang Zhu and others, who advocated calling Yingzong's biological father King Pu'an Yi an imperial uncle; The other faction was the minister of Zaiji, headed by Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu, who advocated calling Yingzong's biological father the imperial examination. When the opinions of the two factions were at odds, Han Qi and others asked Yingzong to submit the two proposals to the hundred officials for discussion.
They had thought that many of the ministers would cater to their intentions, but most officials agreed with the two-system proposal. Empress Dowager Cao also opposed the proposal to claim the imperial examination, and issued a letter to reproach Han Qi and others, and was also involved in this protracted discussion, in an attempt to influence the development of the situation and take the opportunity to resume the curtain of government. Yingzong had no choice but to issue an edict to postpone the discussion of the matter.
In the face of the controversy of the court, the imperial history, who was responsible for consulting the monarch and picketing hundreds of officials, certainly could not stay out of the matter. The attendant Shizhi Lü Zhi Shangshu requested that the honor of King Pu'an Yi be formulated as soon as possible, and Bo Hanqi, Ouyang Xiu and others advocated that the emperor was guilty of flattering and greeting.
Although the loyal Fan Chunren had just entered the imperial history platform, he did not think too much about this hard-won promotion opportunity, and resolutely wrote to Emperor Yingzong: "His Majesty is appointed as the son of Renzong, which is different from the previous master's decision to enter the succession, and it is appropriate to discuss it like Wang Si and others." Then he analyzed the disadvantages of the imperial examination.
Fan Chunren further pointed out that Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and other ministers of the Emperor, who adhered to the emperor's will, repeatedly rejected the proposal of the Hanlin Yuan, and their intention was very obvious, that is, to free themselves from the shackles of the ritual system as soon as possible and draw up titles that were in line with the holy will as soon as possible.
Subsequently, Fan Chunren played again with the attendant Shizhi Miscellaneous Lü Xu, and the spearhead was directed at Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu, but in the end, because of the lightness of the people, his opinion was not adopted.
Fan Zhen of the Tai Chang Temple believed that it was rude for Emperor Yingzong to honor both Renzong as the emperor and King Pu as the exam. He also found relevant passages in the Liturgy, Confucian discussions of the Han Dynasty, and an edict from Emperor Wei Ming, which he provided to Emperor Yingzong as a basis. Sima Guang of the Zhiyuan also did not approve of the proposal of the imperial examination.
The attitudes of Lü Zhi, Fan Chunren, Fan Zhen, and Sima Guang further isolated Han Qi and others, and put the determined Emperor Yingzong in a more embarrassing position, and they gradually realized that in order to win this polemical battle, Empress Dowager Cao's attitude was the key.
Emperor Yingzong then ordered Han Qi and the others to discuss a solution, and the Empress Dowager wrote in his handwriting, honoring King Pu as the emperor and his wife as the empress. At this point, the "controversy" that was very loud came to an end.
The above materials show that the Empress Dowager's handwriting played a key role in ending the "controversy". However, Fan Chunren questioned the authenticity of the handwriting, and then he explained the dangers of handwriting.
Fan Chunren's recital made Han Qi very angry, and he said to his colleagues, "Qi and Xiwen, like brothers, regard Chunren as a son and nephew, and endure so attacking each other", which also foreshadowed Fan Chunren's fate to some extent.
Although Emperor Yingzong issued an edict to stop the "dispute between the general discussions", how to calm the emotions of hundreds of officials and stabilize the political situation was a very headache for him. Zaichen and Yushi can be described as the "bear's paw" and "fish" in Yingzong's hands, and their battle with water and fire really makes Yingzong reluctantly difficult.
On the one hand, Han Qi and others have a decisive strategy for their inheritance of the great ruler, and in the face of the reproach of the imperial history, Han Qi said to Yingzong, we are loyal or evil, Your Majesty you naturally know. Ouyang Xiu is more blunt, since the emperor thinks that his imperial history and the ministers are difficult to stand side by side, if His Majesty thinks that the ministers and others are guilty, he should leave the imperial history If he thinks that the ministers and others are not guilty, then take the holy decree to remove the imperial history.
On the other hand, as the imperial history that he personally promoted, Fan Chunren and others were not used because what they said, so they returned the rescue, resigned en masse, and stayed at home. Emperor Yingzong thought for a long time, and when "fish" and "bear paw" could not have both, he could only endure the pain of cutting his love and give up the "fish" to take the "bear paw".
Looking at Fan Chunren's remarks and actions, we can see an image of the imperial history who dares to speak out. In the face of the emperor of ten thousand multiplied and the prime minister of the most powerful courtier, Fan Chunren was undaunted and frankly stated his views, which required great courage.
The reasons for supporting Fan Chunren's firm belief are at least the following two points that are quite important. On the one hand, Fan Chunren is the imperial history of Emperor Yingzong's imperial pen and is deeply appreciated by Yingzong. In order to express his loyalty to the country and the monarch, his ministers spared no effort.
On the other hand, there was also a close relationship with the support of Empress Dowager Cao. Empress Dowager Cao was the granddaughter of Cao Bin, the founding lord of the early Song Dynasty, and was canonized as empress in the first year of Emperor Renzong's Jingchu reign (1034). In the eighth year of the Qing calendar (1048 AD), the palace guards rebelled, and Empress Dowager Cao commanded Ruoding and quickly quelled the rebellion. During his time listening to the government, he "was quite involved in history and helped to decide things." Chinese and foreign chapters play dozens of days, and one by one can be remembered. ”
It can be seen that his intelligence is superior and he has the ability to not be chaotic. The ailing Yingzong sometimes behaved very perversely, and coupled with the pursuit of power, Empress Dowager Cao refused to withdraw the curtain. At the strong request of Han Qi and others, they had no choice but to return the government. However, she was unwilling and secretly supported Yushi Lü Zhi, Fan Chunren, etc., which intensified the "Pu Discussion".
In March of the third year of Zhiping (1066 AD), Fan Chunren was demoted to Anzhou for "intending to shake people's feelings, dazzling the public, and even returning the seal to rescue, and not going to Taiwan without permission". In this way, Fan Chunren served in the imperial history platform for only nine months, and then became a victim of the "Pu Yi dispute".
In fact, Yingzong knew very well that Fan Chunren and the others were not punished, but they did not have to get their own, so they specially instructed the left and right to "not be too heavy." Although he was demoted from the capital, Fan Chunren quoted scriptures and made generous statements, but "he was famous all over the world."
Summing up the experience of more than 10 years of pro-people officials, Fan Chunren explained his understanding of the DPRK government and put forward a series of administrative measures in the fields of politics, economy, border defense, and diplomacy.
In politics, we should enjoy with the people, care about the people's livelihood and welfare, and carefully eliminate officials to curb the trend of redundancy. Economically, he requested that the autumn banquet be abolished, share happiness and hardship with the people, calm the price of salt on all roads in Jianghuai, and complain to the common people. In border defense, verify the number of horse and soldier officers of the Shaanxi border army, and reduce redundant officers and soldiers. Diplomatically, he quickly dispatched the envoys of the Xia State to bring peace to the frontier as soon as possible.
The proposal of these measures constitutes the prototype of Fan Chunren's thinking on governing the country.