I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 83: On the day when the list is released, the guilty list will be posted first, and then the gold list will be posted.

"I want to sentence Yang Riyan to death!"

Hearing this, Hanlin Dingdu took the lead in standing up.

"Officials must not do this. The laws of our ancestors must not be broken. Our ancestors' precepts say that we must not kill scholar-bureaucrats or those who write letters to us!"

Ding Du, an old scholar, has always regarded the methods of his ancestors as the norm.

When he served as a banquet officer, he taught Zhao Zhen a lot about the laws of his ancestors, and believed that this was the most orthodox way of governing the country in Zuo, which lasted throughout the Song Dynasty.

Immediately, Du Yan, Chen Zhizhong, Xia Song, Wang Yaochen, Wang Gongchen, and Wu Yu all stood up.

"Officials, Yang Riyan must not be killed!"

"Guan family, our court advocates that the king and the scholar-bureaucrats rule the world together. Killing the scholar-bureaucrats and officials will chill the world's officials!"

"Officials, if they want to protect their ancestors' inheritance, must abide by their ancestors' laws. If there is a precedent of killing scholar-bureaucrats and officials, how can we talk about governing the world together!"

……

Among the officials in the palace, only Ouyang Xiu did not stand up to object.

He and Yang Riyan already had a feud, and he wished that such a person would die immediately.

But he didn't say he should be killed.

At that time, Taizu established the ancestral motto "Do not kill scholar-bureaucrats or people who write letters", advocating that the king and civil servants rule the world together.

Later, Zhenzong repeatedly emphasized the ancestral law, and this ancestral precept became the ancestral law.

Zhao Zhen followed the ancestral system.

The grace towards scholar-bureaucrats and officials reached its peak.

Today, the power to interpret the ancestral laws is completely in the hands of scholar-bureaucrats.

This is also the main reason why the civil servants of the Song Dynasty dared to be so arrogant.

……

Zhao Zhen had a dark face and never spoke.

This time he was really furious.

Since he ascended the throne, he has been suppressed by Empress Dowager Liu at every turn. After taking charge of the government, the ministers used the ancestral laws to restrain the imperial power at every turn.

What he, the emperor, did was not free in any way!
After seeing Yang Riyan's misdeeds, he couldn't help but feel murderous. Now that his ministers objected, he wanted to kill Yang Riyan even more.

At this time, Ouyang Xiu spoke.

"Officially, the case documents for Yang Riyan's dereliction of duty have not yet been released. It is too early to convict at this time. The key now is whether to make the case public?"

"It must be made public!" Zhao Zhen said categorically, "I am not afraid of embarrassment. Such a scandal must be explained to the people. And can this kind of thing be kept hidden?"

When the ministers below saw Zhao Zhen's stern expression, no one dared to raise objections.

Zhao Zhen went on to say: "This case is entirely in the hands of the Imperial City Division. Once the investigation is complete, I will decide the sentence after the case documents are released. If the sentence should be harsh, it must be harsh!"

Hearing this, the ministers bowed and bowed their hands.

They saw that the officials were really angry this time, and they no longer trusted Zhongshu, and they had strong intentions to kill Yang Riyan.

Du Yan thought for a while and said: "Guan, what kind of punishment should Yang Riyan be given? Can we wait until the imperial examination results are announced?"

"Okay." Zhao Zhen nodded.

The imperial examination is a top priority and must not be delayed because of this matter.

……

at dusk.

All the yamen in Bianjing City knew the reason why Zhao Zhen issued three consecutive imperial edicts.

Some people were very surprised. They didn't expect Yang Riyan to be so good at disguise.

Some people were also uneasy because he was very close to Yang Riyan.

Some people even went to court because Zhao Zhen wanted to sentence Yang Riyan to death, and then talked about the laws of his ancestors.

After Su Liang heard the news.

On the one hand, he was surprised that Yang Riyan had committed such a serious crime. On the other hand, he did not expect that Zhao Zhen could say the sentence of sentencing Yang Riyan to death.

Su Liang was very excited.

A memorial was immediately submitted in support of sentencing Yang Riyan to death.

He is very clear.

The internal reason for the failure of the Song Dynasty's reform was the intervention of ancestral laws.

Now if we can poke a hole in the impregnable ancestral method, it will definitely be beneficial to the Song Dynasty.

The laws of the ancestors were intended to maintain the imperial rule and ensure the stability of the country.

Su Liang doesn't reject everyone.

What he rejected was that civil servants used the methods of their ancestors to raise their status to a level that could even suppress imperial power and legal principles.

This was fatal to the Song Dynasty.

If everything was considered based on the interests of scholar-bureaucrats and officials, the Song Dynasty would only become weaker and more cowardly.At the same time, Su Liang also wrote a piece of advice that he thought was excellent.

……

Immediately, the common people also learned about this matter.

The only way for the common people to vent their anger was to scold Yang Riyan.

Some people who had been persecuted by Yang Riyan also reported to the government.

For a time, Yang Riyan's misdeeds increased to several more.

As the Imperial City Division obtained more and more personal and material evidence, Yang Riyan also began to confess and prosecute his crimes.

The case can be fully investigated and uncovered within three to five days at most.

……

In the vertical arch hall.

Zhao Zhen flipped through the memorials, becoming more and more angry as he read.

All the ministers in the court were opposed to Yang Riyan's death sentence, and each of them was using their ancestral methods to suppress the imperial power.

There wasn't even a memorial that was clever and made a small excuse to say that Yang Riyan was no longer an official and could be killed.

at this time.

Zhao Zhen saw Su Liang's memorial.

When he opened it and took a look, he couldn't help but smile brightly.

"The one who knows me is Su Jingming!"

In the memorial, Su Liang not only supported the death penalty for Yang Riyan, but also made a suggestion.

"On the day when the imperial examination results were released, Yang Ri's serious crimes were described and posted on the side of the golden list as a warning to scholars all over the world."

Immediately, Zhao Zhen called Prime Minister Du Yan to Chui Gong Hall and told him that he would describe Yang Riyan's crimes on the day when the imperial examination results were released. He would first post the accusations on the Gongyuan, and then post the gold list.

Moreover, Zhao Zhen wanted Du Yan to hide it from everyone.

Du Yan was in a bit of a dilemma, but he was afraid that Zhao Zhen would get sick from anger again, so he could only agree.

……

On the ninth day of April, the sky was slightly bright.

The carriages of wealthy families and many students were crowded in front of the Gongyuan.

Today is the day to release the results.

At this moment, Zhao Zhen also came to Jiying Hall, where all the officials gathered.

The top three people in the first class will be named by Zhao Zhen personally.

Then Ouyang Xiu, who knew the Gongju, announced the ranking, and the Forbidden Army soldiers relayed the list to the gate of Gongyuan outside the palace (Chuanlu). Those who read the ranking were required to salute and express gratitude.

Then, the gold list will be posted on the special wall of Gongyuan for three days.

Ouyang Xiu followed the etiquette procedure and handed three test papers with unknown names to Du Yan.

The first three people in the first class must be opened by the Prime Minister and the official roll call.

After Du Yan took the three test papers, he suddenly put them aside, and then took out a document from the side.

His Highness and all the ministers were suddenly confused.

Du Yan opened the document and said loudly: "Yang Riyan, the former bachelor of Longtuge, the official in charge of the matter, and the right to know the Kaifeng Prefecture, is obsessed with meritorious service, corrupt and perverts the law, and ignores the laws and regulations. In order to set the record straight and to alert scholars all over the world, I have specially charged him with this crime." Announce it before the results are released!”

Immediately afterwards, Du Yan recalled Yang Riyan's crimes.

at the same time.

The Forbidden Army soldiers also repeated Du Yan's words and quickly spread them outside the palace.

This move can be said to have frightened all the court officials.

The people outside who were waiting for the good news were also stunned.

Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, there has never been such an operation.

The accusation contains no more than [-] words.

After Du Yan finished reading, he handed the scroll to a Forbidden Army soldier and said softly: "Put it on the wall of the Gongyuan."

Hearing this, many scholar-bureaucrats and officials could not help but feel chills standing on end.

This move of the official family is really awesome!
If this accusation is posted on the wall of Gongyuan, it will not only mean that Yang Riyan is completely finished, but also severely impact the sense of superiority and dignity in the hearts of scholar-bureaucrats.

Moreover, Zhao Zhen's move was also intended to suppress the methods of his ancestors with the support of the people.

But Zhao Zhen made this move without consulting the officials, and there was nothing they could do.

Su Liangze was very happy.

This was a collision between imperial power and civilian power, and this time, Zhao Zhen obviously won.

This is a sign that the Song Dynasty will gradually get better.

(End of this chapter)