I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 102: Will you establish a prince?Seminar on childless officials
The third day of August.

Zhongshu Sheng’s strategy for attracting investment from general officers was officially distributed to all prefectures, states, and militaries.

All local officials need to go out of their official offices, rely on the advantages of local special goods, use their official voice to drive commerce, use commerce to drive people's livelihood, and link up with multiple states to promote the prosperity of commerce...

Punishment regulations involving official corruption, power, monopoly, oppression, plunder, etc. are also very clear.

This is to prevent officials from taking advantage of the situation and damaging the trade market.

This policy will also be included in the performance appraisal of local officials, and will account for a large proportion.

Those officials who fantasized about getting promoted by working through time and qualifications couldn't help but become nervous.

In the past, there was not much difference in the performance of officials.

Because the imperial examination, farming, water conservancy, etc. are all time-consuming tasks.

However, after implementing this strategy, the amount of business taxes will be clear at a glance, and those who cheat and cheat will be exposed.

Also.

The imperial court also promulgated a series of policies to support merchants in border settlements and overseas trade.

This move made the businessmen very excited, and also allowed the people at the bottom to see the hope of life.

more importantly--

This move alleviates the harm caused by land annexation to a certain extent.

Everyone is seeking profit, and the powerful and wealthy people naturally want to move towards more profitable places.

The only ones who feel depressed may be those officials who are used to being lazy.

For the sake of official position, promotion, and face, they had to step out of the comfortable government offices and become servants of the common people.

……

at the same time.

Wang Gongchen wrote ten memorials to plead guilty, saying that he committed the crime due to madness and confusion in his mind. It was really an unintentional mistake.

He also apologized to Su Liang in person.

The imperial doctor also said that the qi was too strong, the liver qi was stagnant in the chest, or he was suffering from madness.

According to the Song Dynasty system, Taiwan admonishment officials could not be convicted for their words and could not be demoted without reason.

If punished, the reasons for demotion must be clearly stated.

The Zhongshu crime for Wang Gongchen was as follows: Losing his composure in court and failing to commit murder were extremely disrespectful. However, he was suffering from epilepsy and should be dealt with lightly.

But this time, Zhao Zhen did not intend to give a light sentence.

Zhao Zhen has been extremely dissatisfied with Wang Gongchen since he threatened to debase himself at home because of Zhao Zhen's lenient sentence in Teng Zongliang's corruption case.

Wang Gongchen is not without talent.

The mistake lies in being too stubborn, refusing to correct mistakes, and being extremely conceited.

I always think that he is the only remonstrator with a stern face in the Yushitai, and others are either forming cliques or seeking personal gain.

This is what Zhao Zhen is tired of.

Finally, Zhao Zhen ordered Wang Gongchen to supervise the Guangzhou Military Treasury.

Wang Gongchen suddenly changed from a third-rank censor Zhongcheng to an eighth-rank supervisor.

This type of supervisor is an official and has a lower status than a county magistrate.

And the place I went to was Guangzhou.

Guangzhou is the Lingnan region.

At this time, it was still a wild and poor place. Except for the lychees to eat, compared with Bianjing, it could be said to be a place underground and a place in the sky.

If Zhao Zhen can't think of him in the future, then Wang Gongchen will most likely die in Lingnan.

His biggest mistake was to commit murder in the court.

This time, no one can save him.

Xia Song and Chen Zhizhong, who had always been good friends with him, did not intercede with Zhao Zhen on his behalf.

The number one scholar who once defeated Ouyang Xiu, the censor Zhongcheng who once impeached all the talents in the imperial court, and the impeachment king who single-handedly made many New Deal officials leave the court, just left the center of the court sadly.

Maybe, I will never come back again.

……

On the seventh day of August, Taijian added three more officials.

Zhao Pian, the general judge of Sizhou, was recommended by Zeng Gongliang, the chief minister of Tianzhang Pavilion, and became the right person to admonish the court.

Fan Zhen, an official in Kaifeng Prefecture, was recommended as the imperial censor in the palace.

It was also known that Lu Jie of Jiangzhou became the supervisory censor Li Xing. Lu Jie was the grandson of Lu Duan, the prime minister of the Taizong Dynasty who was "confused about small things but not big things".

Among them, Zhao Peng is 38 years old, Fan Zhen is 40 years old, and Lu Hui is 33 years old.

All three of them are young and promising, and their words and articles are among the best among their peers.

In addition, Tang Jie, the censor Zhongcheng, Ouyang Xiu of the Zhijianyuan, Su Liang, the supervisory censor, Zuo Sijian He Tan, who is good at admonishing with the law, and the supervisory censor who seems inconspicuous but does everything very delicately. Shi Lixing Zhou Yuan.

The current Taiwan admonition can be said to be a gathering of talents, and their voice in the court is gradually increasing.

This can be seen from the appointment of Taiwan admonishers.

Zhao Zhen knew that some problems would arise after the official investment strategy was implemented, so he prepared to increase supervision.

This move is also intended to make the ministers of the two governments and three departments more serious when handling official affairs.

Taiwan's admonishment is a sharp tool to check and balance the power of the prime minister.

Only with the mutual checks, balances and promotion of the monarch's power, Taiwan's admonition, and the power of the prime minister, could the court become prosperous and the Song Dynasty be able to move forward with its head held high.

Zhao Zhen seems to have regained the vigor he had when he opened Tianzhang Pavilion at the end of the third year of Qingli.

The court of the Song Dynasty gradually came out of its depression.

……

Early August.

The sutra feast begins again.

On this day, there was morning class in Miying Pavilion.

Ding Du, a Hanlin scholar, and Zhang Fangping, a Hanlin bachelor, gave the lectures.

Su Liang, a storyteller in Chongzheng Palace, had no lecture notes in every scripture banquet class and was lacking in etiquette.

Ding Du ordered him to come here to observe and learn the rules of the banquet officials.

Ding Du and Zhang Fangping were both very rigorous and prepared very detailed lecture notes.

Su Liang, who was yawning, opened their lecture notes and saw that they were going to talk about "The Doctrine of the Mean", and couldn't help but lose interest.

According to "The Doctrine of the Mean", the most drowsy thing is to criticize one's teeth.

After half an hour.

Su Liang was drowsy, and was interrupted several times by Ding Du's cough when he was about to fall asleep.

But Zhao Zhen still hasn't arrived.

Ding Du and Zhang Fangping couldn't help but frown. The official family had never been late in the past.

After a while.

A chamberlain came to report that the official was washing up at Zhang Meiren's place and would arrive later.

Su Liang immediately pulled down when he saw Ding Du's face.

Ding Du had repeatedly warned Zhao Zhen not to indulge in women, but Zhao Zhen only doted on Zhang Meiren and did not take his words to heart at all.

After a while, Zhao Zhen finally arrived.

His face is a little pale, most likely because he worked for a long time last night.

Ding Du cupped his hands and said: "For officials, abstinence is the foundation of good health. I hope the officials will take care of their bodies and not indulge in excessive sexual desires!"

Hearing this, before Zhao Zhen could speak, Zhang Fangping on the side suddenly became unhappy.

"If the officials are abstinent, how can they have heirs?"

"Is it a fault of abstinence for an official to have no children? I am imploring the official to take care of his health. Only when the dragon's body is healthy will the country be lucky!"

Zhang Fangping retorted: "Why is it not a fault of abstinence! You, Ding Dai, have written more than once to implore the officials to abstain. Now our dynasty does not even have an heir, and the official harem is also a big deal. After the banquet, It's not as important as having a son from an official family, what's your intention in admonishing an official family like this?"

"So what if the official family has no children? I only care about the health of the official family. If there is a royal family son, Zhao Zongshi, why should we be afraid?"

"Wouldn't it be better if the official family has parents and children? When the official family is still in its prime, I didn't expect that you already want to be a minister of Conglong?"

"At my age, can I still become a minister of Conglong? Zhang Hanlin, you really overestimate me. The official establishment of the crown prince is to prepare for a rainy day, otherwise trouble will occur. For the sake of my country and the country of the Song Dynasty, this matter Shouldn’t we think about it in advance?”

……

The two sat opposite each other and started to quarrel in front of Zhao Zhen and Su Liang beside them.Su Liang looked helpless.

Originally, he came to learn the rules of the banquet officials, but unexpectedly he saw a quarrel between two old scholars.

Zhao Zhen's biggest weakness is that he has no son.

He listened to the two of them saying "the official family has no heirs", and finally couldn't bear it anymore and walked away in anger.

Subsequently.

Under Su Liang's persuasion, Ding Du and Zhang Fangping did not continue to quarrel and went back to write memorials.

One said he wanted to remonstrate with the officials and establish an imperial heir as soon as possible.

An official family who is still in their prime should never hastily establish an heir.

In the end, Su Liang was the only one left in Miying Pavilion.

Su Liang suddenly felt sorry for Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen has actually worked very hard when it comes to having children.

In the harem, there are more than ten high-ranking concubines. In addition, there are hundreds of princesses and imperial ladies who can be favored by Zhao Zhen at any time.

pity.

Zhao Zhen is so diligent in farming, but it is still rare to have a son.

Su Liang suddenly recalled what he said about Zhao Zhen having no children in his previous life.

Some people say that it was caused by palace fighting.

Empress Cao had no children, so she wanted to make her adopted son Zhao Zongshi the prince and secure her position as queen.

However, Zhang Meiren enjoyed exclusive favor and did not want other concubines to have children.

These two were the most powerful, secretly making it impossible for other concubines to have children.

But Su Liang has already ruled out this theory at this time.

Empress Cao was dignified and virtuous. Although she was boring and not gentle in Zhao Zhen's eyes, she was not so narrow-minded when she was worthy of being a queen and a general.

As for Zhang Meiren, she does not have such great power in the harem.

Some people say that Taizong's descendants all have hereditary diseases.

Because Taizong had nine sons and one son died in infancy, Zhenzong had six sons and five sons died in infancy, and Renzong had all three sons in infancy.

But Taizong's grandson Zhao Yunrang had a long life, with more than 20 sons, all of whom had basically grown up.

It can be seen that this genetic disease may not be established.

Others claimed that Zhao Zhen got married too early, and the only concubines who enjoyed the blessings of the rain and the sun were fifteen or sixteen-year-old concubines.

These concubines were very young and their bodies were not yet fully developed, so they gave birth to children and died in infancy.

However, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, both men and women got married very early, and no one else had this problem.

There is another more likely theory.

When the Bianjing Palace was built, a large amount of mercury, lead, and cinnabar were used to prevent mosquitoes.

Those who lived in the palace were poisoned by lead and mercury.

This chronic toxin is extremely difficult to detect, but can cause physical weakness and premature death of children.

Moreover, due to palace fires, the palaces in the Zhenzong and Renzong periods were renovated several times, and a lot of lead and mercury were poured into them, so it was easy for them to give birth and die early.

Su Liang believed in this statement.

He thought for a while and prepared to talk to Zhang Maoze to see if it was lead and mercury poisoning.

In the afternoon, Su Liang found Zhang Maoze.

Calling him poisoned by lead and mercury was a folk way of saying that an official had no children, so Zhang Mao asked someone to check it out.

Zhang Mao looked solemn and took it very seriously, and immediately agreed.

……

That afternoon.

Ding Du then submitted a memorial, suggesting that Zhao Zongshi should be established as the prince as soon as possible to stabilize the country.

Zhang Fangping said that the official family was still in its prime, and it was too early to establish a prince at this time. If the official family had another heir, disputes would easily arise.

The two men's memorials stirred up thousands of waves with one stone.

The officials in the court took action one after another.

Because Taizu was wearing a yellow robe, he was already in an incorrect position, and then Taizong came again with the sound of a candle shadow and an axe.

Therefore, most court officials want to establish an imperial heir early to avoid accidents.

Moreover, many officials believe that Zhao Zhen will most likely not be able to give birth to a son.

Those who advocate the establishment of a prince believe that this is a move to be prepared, and it is not a crown prince, but a prince.

Opponents believe that Zhao Zhen is still in his prime, there is still the possibility of having children, and Zhao Zongshi's biological father is still alive. If he is made the prince, many princes will become confused, and some people will even have the dangerous idea of ​​"making a new king early."

……

The next day, all officials gathered for the Chang Chao meeting.

Many people have already made plans and are preparing to ask Zhao Zhen to establish a prince as soon as possible.

After a while.

A Xiaohuangmen came to report that the official was slightly ill and the court meeting was cancelled. If anything happened, he could submit a memorial.

Zhao Zhen has done this kind of thing more than once.

Since ancient times, there have been three types of unfilial piety, the greatest of which is having no descendants.

The Song Dynasty paid special attention to filial piety and brotherhood.

Even if you are born into a common family, the pressure of being childless is huge.

Not to mention the emperor.

Zhao Zhen has been criticized many times by officials because he has no children.

He really didn't want to get involved in this discussion.

The officials forced him to establish a prince because they believed that he, the emperor, was not capable of having a son.

However, he believes that he can still have a son in the future.

Su Liang was not very interested in this argument. He just wanted to know whether Zhao Zhen had no children because of mercury and lead poisoning.

Just when Su Liang was about to retreat.

Prime Minister Du Yan suddenly said loudly: "Everyone, since we are gathered here, although the officials are not here, we still have to discuss whether we should establish a prince now?"

As soon as he said this, all the ministers stopped leaving.

The discussion heated up almost immediately.

"The establishment of a prince is not the establishment of a prince. The purpose of establishing a prince now is to reassure the people of the world and to stabilize our country, the Song Dynasty. Why not?"

"Is this the establishment of a prince? There is only such a prince in our dynasty. What is the difference between the establishment of an prince and the establishment of a prince? Once the title is determined, there must be someone with an evil heart and will do evil things in order to become the new king!"

"That's nonsense! The prince is the prince, not the prince. If the official family has another heir, it can be bestowed upon him. If this matter is not settled, it will always be a matter of discussion in the court. Wouldn't it be a delay in the government's affairs!"

"By establishing a prince now, you are actually cursing the official family to be unable to have children. This is not the way of a minister!"

"Colleagues, stop arguing! The fact now is that the official family has no sons. For the sake of the foundation of the Song Dynasty, we must take precautions and establish a prince as soon as possible. This is our duty as ministers!"

"The duty of a minister? If you really care about the official family, you should find out the reason why the official family failed to have a son and solve it instead of forcing the official family to establish a prince early!"

……

Chui Gong Hall is as lively as a vegetable market.

Everyone held their own opinions, and the discussion was very noisy. The floor of the Chui Gong Hall was soaked with saliva.

After Su Liang listened for a while, he quietly slipped out.

This debate scene is really terrible.

He was sure that even if these people argued until dark, they would not be able to come up with a result.

He also felt a little sorry for Zhao Zhen. As an emperor but without a prince, it was really a pity in life.

Near noon.

All the ministers walked out of Chuigong Hall one after another.

As Su Liang expected, no results were obtained.

Some people's throats became hoarse, some people's stomachs rumbled, some people had no new words in their mouths, and some people were choked with urine and had to stop the debate.

(End of this chapter)