manynovel Chapter 1319: Furious Zhang Zhi
Chapter 1319: Furious Zhang Zhi
Chapter 1319: Furious Zhang Zhi
Dusty.
Zhang Gen is on his way back to Beijing.
He stayed in an inn for the night. The soldiers fed his horse, made his bed, prepared his meals, kept watch, and cleaned up.
More than twenty soldiers stood there in silence, dressed neatly and tidyly. Some passengers wanted to look at them curiously, but were glared back by these rough men from Guanxi.
These soldiers who obey orders and have extremely high quality were all trained by Zhang Gen in the northwest over the years.
Zhang Gen didn't need to worry about these things and just lay down on the bed and sleep well.
Before he knew it, he had been in the Northwest for five years. When he passed the imperial examination, he was the runner-up, admired by the whole country, but he worked in the Northwest for five years in obscurity.
He stroked the sword at his waist, which was a gift from an ordinary soldier before his death. The handle was wrapped with blood-soaked hemp rope, reminding him of the farmer's son who had shielded him from arrows under Huanzhou City.
Even if he was wearing heavy armor, the arrow might not be able to penetrate it.
As a son of a noble family, he didn't know at first why his father let him go to the northwest to gain experience.
You should know that there is a joke in the capital that both the new and old parties must talk about, which is that Zhang Yue passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the sixth year of Jiayou. According to the rules, he should have been appointed as a judge, and he had to serve as an official in the local area for two years before he could return to Beijing to serve as an official.
But Zhang Yue did not do so and stayed in Beijing in the name of taking the imperial examination.
Wang Anshi, who was the examiner for both the imperial examination and the imperial examination, advised Zhang Yue to go to the local government first, saying that "a prime minister must start from the prefectures and counties." Zhang Yue refused.
People at that time laughed at Zhang Yue for being attached to the gentle countryside and unwilling to give up the wealth and honor given by the Wu family.
Can such a prime minister govern the country?
However, as for Zhang Gen, Zhang Yue kicked him to the northwest to gain experience, and he stayed there for five years.
It was not until today that Zhang Genfang finally understood the reason.
The higher your position, the more careful you need to be in using the power in your hands.
I was born and raised in a wealthy family, and I have been pampered and unaware of the sufferings of the common people. Therefore, I have to go to the local area to gain experience. This is what it means that a prime minister starts from the prefecture level.
Governing a country starts with governing its people, and this cannot be understood by simply going to the grassroots to gain experience.
He found that many military officers in the northwest would personally return the belongings of the fallen soldiers to their families, and he also found that some generals used the lists of casualties to collect salaries without doing anything.
People's natures are very different. Even those who come from a general's family can do such shameless things, and those who are penniless can also be honest and dedicated to their work.
Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, why have so many ministers and generals become corrupt, to the point where each generation is worse than the previous one?
To this day, Zhang Gen still recalls the banquet that year when the drunk poor classmate grabbed his jade belt and said.
"Brother Zhang, passing the imperial examination is a great honor to our family, but for you, it's just a threshold to meet you. You have to add the word 'fellow year' before it."
Zhang Gen looked at the spider webs scattered in the corner of the guest room. The setting sun shone through the window lattice, reflecting the spider webs into golden threads.
Zhang Gen suddenly remembered the Nine-bend Heart-shaped Thread that his mother Shiqi Niang had personally given him under the eaves of the Prime Minister's Residence when he left Beijing five years ago. Now the red string had long been dyed dark yellow by the northwest wind and sand.
It takes decades of tempering for the poor to see through the spider web of fame, wealth and power. And Zhang Gen also had to go through hardships before he could understand the truth that the poor have understood since childhood.
"Dad, today I finally understand your painstaking efforts."
Zhang Gen sighed and closed his eyes.
He thought of the Western Army's winter clothing, which was made with shoddy materials, and the soldiers used straw quilts as cotton. The moment the arrow pierced through the thin back of the soldier who rushed towards him, there was a dull sound of metal entering the flesh, which was very much like the sound of the chef in Fanlou, Bianjing, chopping off sheep bones.
Soon, the soldiers standing guard at the door began to sing out of tune: "Generals die in a hundred battles, warriors return in five years."
Zhang Gen thought to himself, this is Qinqiang, and it will no longer be heard in a few days.
When will we be able to conquer the Helan Mountains?
……
Seventeen years have passed since the change of the Yuanfeng era, and the struggle in the court has long become a pattern.
But what about party strife?
This is just like the wars among warlords during the Republic of China. Both sides used guns and artillery to fight fiercely, and used airplanes, cannons, etc., but in the end, they saw that no one was dead when they saw each other.
Everyone received the money with satisfaction, completed their mission, went home to sleep, and continued to fight the next day.
Despite the thundering incident of the Wudai Poems Case, when Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou, he still received the salary of an eighth-rank official and guarded the three-room tile house in Lingao Pavilion. The prefect Xu Junyou even tacitly allowed him to "go away in a small boat and spend the rest of his life on the rivers and seas" - as long as he reported to the prefecture government on the first day of each month, the rest could indulge in the mountains and rivers.
This is the dignity of the Song Dynasty’s century-long practice of nurturing scholars: political views may differ, but the line between life and death will not be crossed.
Tsai Que has broken this political tacit understanding in one fell swoop. Once the bottom line is broken, if I kill you this time, I can also kill you next time in revenge.
That’s right, Chen Mu took three hundred strings of cash.
But when officials make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. Even when Han Fuju was executed, he was furious. How could he be the first to be executed?
Cai Que glanced at Zhang Zhi, silently lifted up the black gauze hat on his head, and said: "Your Majesty, this is my fault. I have violated the laws of my ancestors. I wish to return my bones to Quanzhou."
Upon hearing that Cai Que had voluntarily resigned, the emperor's anger subsided.
The Purple Palace was completely silent. The emperor, who had been in office for seventeen years, closed his eyes and thought of the time when Cai Que and Cai Chizheng, who had lectured on the Book of Documents in the Erying Pavilion, were dressed in blue and had eyes full of passion for reform.
It is because of the comrades who shared the same ideals back then that the story of the emperor and his subjects today exists.
The emperor's heart softened when he thought of this. He knew that from the beginning to the end, Cai Que had no one in his heart but only the emperor.
The official thought of it again.
Tsai Que resigned as prime minister and no one was appointed to replace him.
Zhang Dun had just returned to the court and his experience was still shallow. As for Zhang Zhi, he was appointed as the right prime minister, which was equivalent to inviting Zhang Yue back to the court.
Although Zhang Yue resigned as prime minister, his influence in the court was still huge, and would not be diminished much by the death of Chen Mu.
The government was indeed furious about Cai Que's actions.
But the government is helpless.
At this moment, the black gauze hat held by Cai Que cast a slanting shadow in the hall.
Zhang Zhi shouted: "Your Majesty, since the time of Emperor Renzong when Lü Yijian and Fan Zhongyan argued like cockfighting, and the time of Emperor Yingzong when there was the Puyi incident, the Bianjing officialdom has long established an iron rule - you can be demoted or imprisoned, but you can't be killed!"
"I ask that Cai Que be punished!"
The emperor wanted to be lenient with Cai Que, but was unable to back down after hearing what Zhang Zhi said.
The official said: "Cai Qing, although you have committed a serious crime, you still have to coordinate the reform."
Cai Que said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to the border areas, or even Lingnan, and I can coordinate the reform for Your Majesty."
The official said, "Han Qi and Fu Bi had been in the prefectures and counties for a long time. How could there be the Qingli New Deal? You should reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors in the central government. These days, you should hand over the government affairs and reflect at home!"
"Your Majesty!" Zhang Zhi was unwilling, his fingers were clenched so tightly that the knuckles turned white.
He spoke loudly and directly.
The official couldn't help it. He looked at Zhang Zhi and thought, you have a completely different personality from your third uncle. If it were Zhang Yue, he would never be so eager to defeat Cai Que. He would even make some excuses for Cai Que according to his own wishes.
Zhang Zhi climbed up the steps and said, "Your Majesty, how can Cai Que's crime be explained to all officials by just reflecting on it behind closed doors?"
"The ancestral system is there, and the safety of the court depends on it. If this move is tolerated, everyone in the court will be in danger in the future."
The emperor stood there in a stalemate, unable to leave the stage, and finally said, "I am not feeling well, do you want to say anything more?"
After hearing this, Zhang Zhi reluctantly retreated down the stairs and the official left.
Zhang Zhi turned around and looked at Cai Que hatefully.
Cai Que put his black gauze hat back on his head, walked past Zhang Zhi and whispered, "Zi Zheng, you impressed me today."
"That nursery rhyme...was made up by you, right?"
Hearing this, Cai Que glanced sharply at Zhang Zhi.
But at this moment, Zhang Zhi threw the tablet in his hand heavily towards the hall, hitting the blue bricks on the hall.
The tablet was broken into two pieces.
Zhang Zhi said to Cai Que: "Zhizheng, if you don't dismiss me from your position as prime minister, I will remain like this!"
Cai Que laughed when he heard this and said, "Good, good, good, this is what a member of the Zhang family should be like."
"You are much braver than your uncle."
After saying this, Cai Que put the tablet at his waist and strode out of the hall.