Speaking of the three fathers and sons of Sumen, the greatest achievement in literature, the first thing that comes to mind is the "Great Su" Su Shi. Although "Xiao Su" Su Rui was not as famous as his brother in literature, his political achievements and official position were much higher than Su Shi's.
In terms of personality, the average person thinks that Su Shi has a bold personality and does not spit out unpleasant words; and Su Rui, compared with his brother, is more introverted and peaceful.
But in fact, when Su Rui was a teenager, he was a veritable lever spirit.
Moreover, the target of his lever was either the emperor or the prime minister and the ruler of the high power.
Such a character has offended many people and been suppressed, and even so, he has never changed.
But his life began to take a turning point at the age of 46, and in just seven years, he was promoted from a county order to deputy prime minister.
Sansu Temple
The first time to "raise the bar": anger emperor Song Renzong.
At that time, Su Rui was 22 years old and was taking the temple examination entitled "Xianliang Fang Zheng Zhi Zhi Zhi Zhi Zhi Ke". At that time, the emperor Song Renzong was already fifty-two years old and had ruled for more than thirty years. Su Rui believed that he was slack in political affairs, so he pointed out the four major shortcomings of his reign in the examination paper.
"Between the past Baoyuan and the Qing calendar, the Western Xia was difficult... The whole world is said to be His Majesty's fear and caution like King Wen of Zhou... Now Your Majesty is not worried if he has nothing to do, and if he has something to fear..." --Su Rui's examination question
First, the emperor slackened his government. When you first ascended the throne, the Western Xia was in trouble, you could not sit during the day and sleep for the sake of the country, and everyone in the world said that you were as careful and cautious as King Wen of Zhou. However, when the Western Xia retreated, you gave up your fears. Usually, it is lax and unwilling to think deeply; when there is something, it is too frightening. "The subject thinks that the festival of sorrow and happiness is easy";
Second, like female color. In recent years, the concubines in the palace have almost a thousand people, and the emperor has a voice of dog and horse, regardless of political affairs;
Third, spend money indiscriminately. Emperor, you love to spend money too much, and now the people in the country are suffering, and you reward the high-ranking officials and nobles without restraint, give and take, and never ask the reason;
Fourth, there is no one in the DPRK. Because of your slackness and lack of ability to govern, now the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government do not even have anyone who is willing to give you advice.
Song Renzong
Reading the whole article, it is not just like making suggestions, but also the value of Song Renzong's criticism. You know, Song Renzong is one of the few emperors who has been evaluated as a "renjun".
Even after writing this article, Su Rui himself laughed at himself and said that he would definitely not be able to pass the exam this time.
The ministers were also divided into two factions, Sima Guang said that it should be admitted as a third class (in the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination was divided into four classes, the first and second classes were fictitious, and in fact the highest was the third class), and an examiner named Fan Zhen said: "This all compares the emperor to a faint prince, and should be sent home directly." ”
When this problem was handed over to Emperor Renzong, Emperor Renzong said:
"Calling people with blunt words, and abandoning them with blunt words, what is the world call me?" - "The Biography of Song Shi Su Rui"
I named the title "Straight Talk", and now if it were because others "spoke bluntly" that people would fall off the list, what would the people of the world say about me?
Later, after several prime ministers' consultation, Su Rui was admitted to the fourth class.
Portrait of Song Shenzong
The second "lifting of the bar": Emperor Shenzong of Song.
After Su Ruke was admitted, he did not immediately enter the court as an official, and he took the initiative to serve his father in the capital.
Four years later, he was appointed governor of the Daimyo Government (also known as "Beijing"). Not long after, his father Su Xun died, so he and his brother Su Shi returned home to keep filial piety for three years.
When Ding was finished, Su Rui returned to the capital just in time for Wang Anshi's change of law. The first thing he did was to write a letter to Song Shenzong.
The emperor saw that the article was well written, so he summoned Yu Yanhe Hall.
Su Rui began to say, "It is impossible for you to succeed in reforming and changing the law like this." You have to make money first. ”
The Divine Sect is strange, aren't you raising the bar? Wang Anshi Wang Xianggong presided over the change of law, isn't the Qingmiao method in it used to make money? Why are you saying the same thing is wrong?
Then Su Rui argued, not to say that the Qingmiao Method is not good, but to do things to distinguish priorities. It is very confusing to engage in multiple policies at once without clarifying the order of priority. The right and urgent things (making money) should be put ahead, and the reforms that follow can be successful. If you put something else ahead, it won't be long before you start that the change will be dragged down by financial problems.
When Wang Anshi heard this, he thought, "This bar is well raised, just in line with my wishes." ”
At that time, in order to guide the implementation of the change of law, the "Regulation Division of the Three Divisions" was established to coordinate the finances. He pulled Su Ru in and served as a senior staff officer.
Portrait of Wang Anshi
The third "raising the bar": denouncing the New Deal.
At that time, Wang Anshi thought that if there was a person who coincided with me, then my "Green Shoots Law" would definitely be able to be implemented smoothly!
However, Su Rui did not do as he wished, Su Rui said: "The original intention of the Green Shoots Law is to relieve the people. But there are certainly officials who take advantage of the opportunity to embezzle and engage in private profits, and when the money goes to the people, even the good people will spend it indiscriminately. In this way, there is a contrary to the original intention of changing the law. ”
Wang Anshi didn't know how to refute it after listening, and pressed the table: "What you said makes sense, I will consider it again." ”
Before the Qingmiao Law was officially promulgated, an official later implemented the "Qingmiao Law" in Shaanxi, which was in line with Wang Anshi's wishes. So in the autumn, Wang Anshi sent someone to collect the money he had not received. People inside and outside the court felt that something was wrong, but they did not dare to say it.
But Su Rui stood up and said, "Similar things have happened before, and later I found that many of them were not feasible and were laughed at by the people of the world." How is your behavior different now from this? ”
Finally, he wrote an article called "The Discussion of the Regulation Division of the Three Divisions", which comprehensively denied the new law. He also said to Wang Anshi, you quickly transfer me away, I am not mixed up with you, and I am doing a better job in the local area than I am now.
This can make Wang Anshi mad: You, a senior staff officer of the "change of law," actually stood up and comprehensively denied the change of law? Isn't that punching me in the face?
As a result, in the next ten years, Su Rui will be degraded again and again. Finally, in 1084, he was demoted to Jixi County, Anhui Province, as a county order, which was equivalent to being degraded.
Portrait of Su Rui
In fact, there are no more than two reasons:
The first reason is that the new party has lost power, and the old party, which opposes the change of law, has taken office.
In 1085, Emperor Shenzong of Song died. Emperor Zhezong of Song succeeded to the throne, and Empress Dowager Gao bowed to the government. When Empress Gao was still alive, she vigorously opposed the change of law.
Therefore, Sima Guang, Lü Gongzhuo, and others who opposed the change of law were appointed as prime ministers. Su Rui was recalled to the central government. He soon followed suit as the Right Counselor, or Imperial Counselor.
The second reason, although it is easy to offend people by being blunt, Su Rui has true insight and excellent ability to govern.
Like the above words with the emperor and the prime minister, although it is difficult to hear, what is said is not false, and almost all of them hit the crux of the problem.
Su Rui only stayed in the position of counselor for nine months, and Shangshu's recital reached seventy-four times.
During this period, the imperial court took his advice and after defusing the conflict with The Western Xia, Su Rui was promoted to Zhongshu Sheren.
After another year, he was promoted to the position of Hubu Shilang, that is, vice minister of finance. At that time, many departments of the state spent money and could use it without the approval of the Ministry of Households; and the Ministry of Households did not have to bear the responsibility of giving money.
As soon as Su Rui took office, he saw this problem:
"If he does things as an effect, he will not be sympathetic to the existence of wealth; if the household department takes the merit of giving wealth, it does not ask whether the matter is right or not." Each battalion has a position, and its power is no longer known, although the household department has the wisdom of the minister,...... If you don't save it early this morning, you will suffer even more in the future. ——" The Biography of Song Shi Su Rui
This means that each department, in doing things, only considers its own efficiency, and does not consider how much money the country has left; and the household department also takes the money that can be given to each department as a performance, and does not ask whether this money is spent properly.
In the long run, the treasury will inevitably be empty. Even if the household department gets a financial master, there is no way to control this situation.
"DuShui, military weapons, and generals are the three supervisors, all of which are also subordinate to the household department." - "The Biography of Song Shi Su Rui"
What to do? It is recommended that the finance, project establishment and other matters of other departments that spend a lot of money should all be returned to the household department. The assessment of other departments is only responsible for the progress of the project. In this way, the central government can spend money to maximize. This is simply the prototype of modern corporate financial management.
After that, Su Rui continued to be promoted, which was equivalent to rotating every job position. He was eventually promoted to the rank of understatement attendant. That is, the deserving deputy prime minister.
Although Su Rui was very capable, after the deaths of Wang Anshi and Sima Guangdu, the old and new party and government of the Northern Song Dynasty entered a white-hot situation. Su Rui was once again subjected to a series of belittles.
In 1093, Empress Gao died. The following year, Emperor Zhezong of Song pro-government changed his name to Yuan Shaosheng. It means inheriting the will of the Divine Sect.
As a result, Zhezong reactivated the new party and suppressed the old party. Su Rui also bore the brunt of it.
A few years later, the great scholar Su Shi died of illness in Changzhou, ending up regretting not seeing Su Rui again. At that time, Su Rui was in Yingchuan, thousands of miles away, and after learning about it, he wrote a tribute to him in grief.
Three years later, Su Rui settled in Yingchuan, read and wrote all day long, sat in meditation, refused guests, decided not to talk about current affairs, and pinned all his feelings on poetry.
In the winter of 1112, Su Rui died at the age of seventy-four. During the Southern Song Dynasty, because of his son Su Chi's eminent nobility, Su Rui was given the title of Taishi (太師) and was posthumously honored as "Wending".