I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 190: On the art of quarreling in the court, Ouyang Xiu, the best debater!

The sixth day of September, afternoon.

The prime ministers of the two prefectures and three divisions, Ding Du of the Academy of Academic Affairs, Tang Jie of the Yushitai, Su Liang, Ouyang Xiu of the Admonition Academy, He Tan, Bao Zheng of the Kaifeng Prefecture and others were all summoned to Chui Gong Hall.

Zhao Zhen went on patrol incognito and needed to keep it secret.

But we cannot hide it from these people, and it is impossible to hide it from them.

The ministers stood on both sides, whispering to each other.

Chen Zhizhong, Xia Song, Wu Yu and Zhang Fangping all looked puzzled.

Under normal circumstances, when officials hold such an impromptu court meeting, they will know what is going on in advance.

But today I don’t know anything about it.

After a while, Zhao Zhen walked to the throne and sat down, and the ministers stopped talking.

Zhao Zhen looked down and said: "My lords, I am calling you here today just to discuss something."

"The Qizhou Reform has been going on for nearly three years, and all new legal measures are being implemented and have achieved certain results. I have received hundreds of memorials related to the Qizhou Reform, but I am still not clear about some details. The changes in Qizhou are the future changes in our Song Dynasty. For the sake of safety, I want to go to Qizhou to inspect incognito. What do you think?"

Swish!
As soon as Zhao Zhen finished speaking, all the officials raised their heads.

Everyone frowned, obviously unwilling.

At this time.

Dingdu, who was waiting for the imperial edict, stood up first and said: "Officials, it is not appropriate to go on tour incognito at this time!"

"At the beginning of the year, our court had just experienced the Palace Gate Revolution and the Beizhou Military Rebellion. Outside the Palace Gate, there must still be bandits left. It is really dangerous for officials to go out incognito! The details of Qizhou's reforms are not clear to officials or they want to know more about it. Wherever there is, you can send envoys to investigate. This is the duty of a minister, how can you order the king to do his ministerial work?"

Followed by.

Chen Zhizhong said: "There are many thieves in the land of Jingdong. Officials must not go there in person. If the officials feel bored in the confinement, they can go hunting in the southern suburbs. If the officials go out, the city will be unstable, so they cannot go out in person." "

"In the official family, the whole country of the Song Dynasty belongs to the official family. If the official family is in prison, the Song Dynasty will be safe. If you go out on patrol incognito, accidents may occur. The official family must not put themselves in danger!" Xia Song said .

"If the officials leave Bianjing, the internal affairs of the court may be chaotic, and there may be danger of accidents. I advise the officials to think twice!" Zhang Fangping said.

……

The princes of the two government and three departments all knew that Zhao Zhen had long wanted to go out.

So I tried every possible reason to stop it.

Zhao Zhen went out incognito, which had a huge impact.

Let alone the impact on the affairs of the court, if there is an accident to personal safety, no one here will be able to bear the consequences.

In addition, once an exception is made, they are worried that Zhao Zhen will definitely find excuses and go out incognito in the future.

Zhongshu's husband-in-law was accustomed to Zhao Zhen's docile and easy-going attitude. Naturally, they were not happy if Zhao Zhen suddenly had to go through some trouble.

Zhao Zhen looked troubled.

This was exactly what he expected.

The ministers kept him unable to go out under the banner of "the country, the country, and the country are the most important thing, and the king cannot be easily put in danger."

The core of this banner is "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism", which Zhao Zhen cannot refute at all.

Zhao Zhen couldn't help but look at Su Liang.

Su Liang walked out slowly and said loudly: "I think it is a wise act for the officials to patrol Qizhou incognito at this time, so you can go!"

Chen Zhizhong turned to look at Su Liang.

"Su Liang, as a human subject, it is disloyal to put the king in danger. You are charming at this time. If something unexpected happens, can you afford it?"

Su Liang smiled disdainfully.

"There are three main reasons why you object to officials going out."

"First, if you patrol incognito, the danger is unpredictable; second, when it comes to Qizhou, the emperor does not need to act like a minister; third, if a minister puts the emperor in danger, it is disloyal, and everything should be done according to the Song Dynasty The country is the most important thing." "Mr. Chen, am I right?" Su Liang looked at Chen Zhizhong.

Chen Zhizhong replied: "Aren't these three reasons enough?"

Su Liang shook his head.

"The official believes that none of these three reasons can restrict officials from conducting overseas patrols in private.

"First, what is unpredictability?"

"The officials are only patrolling on Jingdong Road, and they are not going to the border. Even if they encounter bandits, there will only be a few dozen people at most. Couldn't there be hundreds of elite soldiers among the three yamen to protect the officials? The officials are in their own homes When patrolling the land, you guys claim that there are all kinds of dangers. I want to ask, the Privy Council orders the three yamen to train troops every day, are they all a bunch of trash?"

"If you can't protect the official family at home, then you will definitely lose when you encounter the Khitans or Dangxiang people! If both ministers believe that the Imperial Imperial Army cannot protect the official family or the two governments are unable to handle the affairs of the court, I guarantee that Bian will be defeated. All affairs in the capital are running normally, I suggest that Prime Minister Chen and Xia Shu should immediately ask themselves to resign!"

"Secondly, what is the conduct of a king and his ministers?"

"Can the words in the memorial be the same as the scene seen with one's own eyes? How can officials know the sufferings of the people without being among the people? Only after officials see it can they issue the most correct edict. The Qizhou Reform involves For the future prospects of the Song Dynasty, it is natural for me to go to the official family in person, and no official can do it for me, nor should I do it for me!"

"Thirdly, why should a loyal minister not put the official family in danger?"

"Are there dangerous places outside Kaifeng Mansion? According to my official opinion, all the gentlemen are just afraid of taking responsibility and causing trouble. This is not loyalty, but perfunctory and inactive..."

……

Su Liang said a long paragraph, but he actually meant the same thing.

"Officials cannot patrol abroad, which means the two governments are incompetent."

a time.

All the ministers were speechless and couldn't think of how to refute Su Liang.

At this time, Tang Jie came out.

"Jing Ming, what you just said is not unreasonable, but the safety of the official family is above all else. If something goes wrong, no one can afford it. If the official family leads tens of thousands of forbidden troops to Qizhou, I will not object, but if the official family leads a private visit incognito , I still feel a little rash!"

not far away.

Wen Yanbo, Wu Yu, Bao Zheng, and He Tan all nodded.

They recognized the truth Su Liang said, but this truth was still not enough to make Zhao Zhen commit danger himself.

Chen Zhizhong couldn't help but puff up his chest when he saw that Wen Yanbo, Tang Jie, Bao Zheng and others did not agree with Su Liang.

"Su Liang, don't quibble here just to please the king. Look at the ministers in the court, who agrees with you?"

Just when Chen Zhizhong felt that no one would speak up for Su Liang, Ouyang Xiu walked out slowly.

"Humph!"

He snorted coldly and pointed at the other court officials except Su Liang.

This action is extremely disrespectful.

"Back then, when the official family learned that their biological mother was still alive, the court officials used the excuse that 'the two palaces would be shaken by shaking the foundation of the country', so the official family could not see their biological mother in this life; during the Song-Xia war, the official family knew that our court would not know about it. The soldiers did not know the hidden dangers of the generals, so they wanted to take charge of the army personally. Then the court officials used the reason that "the official family has no children and cannot go out" and was trapped in Bianjing City. Now the court officials used the reason that "loyal ministers cannot put the king into danger". Refuse officials to inspect Qizhou."

"I'm thinking, if the officials could see their biological mothers, there would be no conflict between the two palaces, and the officials would have no regrets; if the officials had boosted morale during the Song-Xia war, would we have at least won against Xixia? , it’s not that shameful!”

"You loyal ministers, in the name of 'loyalty' you can make officials become benevolent kings, but you cannot make officials become saints!" Ouyang Xiu suddenly amplified his voice.

"How can officials be bloody when they are locked up in confinement all day long? How can they know the sufferings of the people? How can they hold the world in the palm of their hands? You are loyal ministers, but you are also harming the country. You can cultivate a benevolent king, but Destroyed a sage who could have been famous throughout the ages and rivaled Yao and Shun!"

When Ouyang Xiu said the last sentence, his eyes were filled with tears, and his face was full of grief and anger.

Those who harm the country.

The lethality of these three words is enough to completely obliterate the shining word "loyalty".

Suddenly, all the officials fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)