manynovel Chapter 1231 A Character Who Appears Once in Several Years
Chapter 1231 A Character Who Appears Once in Several Years
Chapter 1231 A Person Who Appears Once in Hundreds of Years
For Su Shi, the journey from Huangzhou to Beijing again was also uneasy.
From the moment he received the imperial edict, Su Shi was somewhat reluctant to go to Beijing. It was not that he was hypocritical, but that he was afraid of being persecuted. The last time the Wutai Poetry Case implicated so many people, Su Shi was imprisoned in the Censorate for half a year. Although Li Ding, who presided over this case, was no longer in the court, Cai Que, Shu Tan and others still held important positions.
Su Shi didn't want to face these people again, and he knew that the officials didn't like him in their hearts, so what was the point of going?
So Su Shi wanted to refuse, but then he thought, if he refused, wouldn’t he be offending the emperor and wasting Zhang Yue’s kindness?
Therefore, Su Shi accepted the imperial edict and wanted to go to Beijing to take a look first.
When Su Shi left Huangzhou, he looked at the Dongpo Mountain, which he had spent nearly two years to renovate, as well as the Nantang on the mountain and the Xuetang at the foot of the mountain. He was reluctant to leave. He thought he would live in Huangzhou for a long time, but he didn't expect to be appointed to a new position so soon.
Su Shi changed out of his short shirt and coarse robe and put on his official uniform and square scarf.
Before leaving, Su Shi said to his friends and Huangzhou governor Xu Dashou, "Huangzhou has clear mountains and clear waters, and the local customs are kind. Its people are not greedy and do not fight, and its scholars are quiet and cultured, simple but not shabby. Even the common people in the streets and alleys know how to respect and love the wise. Although my state is far away and small, Wang Yuanzhi and Han Weigong have lived there with humiliation."
The people of Huangzhou lined the streets to see Su Shi off.
After saying this, Su Shi said goodbye to everyone and embarked on his journey to Beijing.
Before Su Shi went to Beijing, he went to Jiangning to meet Wang Anshi. During the Wutai Poetry Case, Wang Anshi took the initiative to write a letter to the emperor to plead for Su Shi, saying that talented people should not be killed in a prosperous era.
Su Shi was a grateful person, so he went to meet Wang Anshi before going to Beijing.
When they met again this time, the friction between them had long since disappeared.
From Wang Anshi's refusal to draft an imperial edict for Su Che, to Su Xun's writing of "On Distinguishing Traitors" to satirize Wang Anshi.
When it came to the political reform, Wang Anshi and the two Su brothers had political differences. Su Shi and Su Zhe openly opposed Wang Anshi's new policies, and later suffered political hardships.
The political thought of Su Shi and his two sons, after all, was derived from Ouyang Xiu, which was based on human feelings and smooth progress. At first, Su Xun and Wang Anshi were both appreciated and recommended by Ouyang Xiu.
It was like two lines that were originally intersecting, then separated for a long distance in the middle and finally came together again.
Su Shi also wanted to use this meeting to clear up the misunderstanding between him and Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi chose to block Lü Huiqing's letter, but immediately rode his skinny donkey to greet Su Shi without saying a word.
The two met halfway up the mountain, bowed to each other, and then went back home to discuss poetry and Zen.
Wang Anshi said after reading a poem written by Su Shi in Huangzhou.
"The frozen jade tower is covered with cold,
The light shakes the silver sea and creates dazzling flowers. "
Wang Anshi said to Su Shi: "Taoists refer to the jade tower as a person's shoulder and the silver sea as a person's eyes. Is that true?"
After hearing this, Su Shi sighed and thought, how many people in the world can be as knowledgeable as Wang Anshi?
The two of them had a very pleasant conversation, and Wang Anshi's disciple thought to himself that, in recent years, apart from Zhang Yue, Su Shi was the only person with different political views that he admired so much.
Su Shi and Wang Anshi met and parted soon after, but they seemed like old friends.
Su Shi said to Wang Anshi, "I am very pleased to hear something I have never heard before from the Prime Minister. I once thought of buying land in Nanjing and living out my life in Zhongshan Mountain after a few years. Now I plan to live in Yizhen after retirement. If so, it will not be difficult for me to come to see the Prime Minister by boat in the future."
Although Wang Anshi and Su Shi put aside their past grudges after this meeting, they were not close enough to become neighbors.
However, there is an unspoken understanding among adults, and that is polite talk.
Wang Anshi laughed after hearing Su Shi's words and said, "That being said, Zizhan should stay in Jinling!"
Su Shi smiled and immediately composed a poem: "Riding a donkey into the deserted pond, I want to see you when you were not sick. You advised me to try to find a three-acre house, but I feel it is ten years too late to follow you!"
Su Shi said this sentence, if he had known this earlier, he would have joined you, Wang Anshi, ten years ago.
Wang Anshi was delighted to hear this and said, "You live in Dongpo, and I live halfway up the mountain."
"Throughout history, there have been many people who have different political views but can still be friends. I would like to follow your example."
When Su Shi heard Wang Anshi's words, he was distracted for a moment and thought, "Everyone says this man is stubborn, but I didn't expect him to be so broad-minded. He has devoted his life to the country without any self-centeredness. I am afraid that I can't compare to him in this regard."
Su Shi said: "The factional turmoil in the Han and Tang dynasties was the cause of the country's demise, so our ancestors have always ruled the country with kindness. However, the successive large-scale imprisonments in recent years have suppressed public opinion for a while, but how can we resolve the revengeful desires of these people? This is actually a sign of the country's demise."
"From my perspective, although the emperor and Prime Minister Zhang both intend to reconcile the current situation and use both the old and new parties in the court, no one knows what will happen in the future. Although the prime minister has retired, doesn't he have a word to correct your majesty and save the world?"
Wang Anshi was shocked when he heard this. After a long silence, he said, "I am away from home and cannot talk about court affairs."
Su Shi couldn't help but sigh when he heard this. Is it possible that the Han and Tang dynasties' destruction due to party turmoil will happen again?
However, Wang Anshi paused and said, "But if there is anything that can prevent the country from falling apart, maybe Zhang Jiangong can do it!"
Su Shi was overjoyed when he heard this, and almost with tears in his eyes, he said: "This time when I go to Beijing, I will meet Hefu (Wang Anli) and Prime Minister Zhang!"
After saying this, Su Shi bowed to Wang Anshi and said goodbye.
Wang Anshi rode on a skinny donkey and watched Su Shi go away, sighing, "I wonder if there will be another man like him in the world in a few hundred years!"
……
In another time and space, after Su Shi was released, he went to Jiangning to meet Wang Anshi.
There are many versions of what was said at that time, and Su Shi himself did not mention it.
However, Su Shi later wrote to Sima Guang during the Yuanyou period: "The world is ill. When Jing Gong was removed and reinstated, he wanted to make some changes. But people like Lu Huiqing were afraid that the law would be changed and endanger their lives, so they insisted on the new law and refused to change it."
But some people think that Su Shi was lying. Wang Anshi was so stubborn that he would never admit that there was a problem with the new law or that Su Shi had misunderstood it.
……
After meeting Wang Anshi, Su Shi felt that the trip was worthwhile and immediately set off by boat to Beijing.
It was the end of the fourth year of Yuanfeng when he arrived in the capital. It was almost the fifth year of Yuanfeng. A heavy snow fell in Bianjing. Su Shi had been feeling a little gloomy before, but his mood improved after he met Wang Anshi. He could not help but write several more poems while looking at the snowy scene of the Bian River on the boat.
After finishing the poem, Su Shi immediately became afraid and picked up the poem again and again to see if there was anything prohibited in it.
Afterwards, Su Shi entered the palace to meet the emperor.
The emperor also felt complicated when he saw Su Shi.
Thinking back to their first meeting, Su Shi criticized himself for bringing people in too quickly, seeking justice too hastily, and asking for too many words.
Now the government only wanted to implement the new law and was unwilling to pursue the old party. After the establishment of the prisons and the victory of Lanzhou and Liangzhou, the discussion had calmed down a lot. Some old party members also changed their views.
Therefore, he was unwilling to continue to embarrass the old party, as long as they did not oppose the new law and the attack on the Tanguts. He was willing to eliminate this party struggle and avoid causing a party disaster in history. The reason why he appointed Zhang Yue as prime minister was also because of his magnanimity.
Now that Su Shi was meeting the emperor, the emperor looked at his expression. Although some anger remained, he felt that he had gone too far before.
Especially when he heard Su Shi say that he was still in shock and sleepwalking in prison, he comforted him with a few words.
The emperor and his ministers let the matter pass in private.
Then the emperor asked Su Shi, "Do you know the Jurchens?"
Su Shi said: "I know."
"The Jurchens were divided into the cooked Jurchens and the raw Jurchens. The cooked Jurchens were registered as members of the Liao Kingdom, while the raw Jurchens were nominally governed by the Liao Kingdom and Goguryeo respectively, but they were sometimes rebellious and sometimes vassal to the Liao and Goryeo countries."
"The Shengnuzhen were originally a tributary state of our dynasty, but after the Liao and Goryeo divided up the Yalu River, the Shengnuzhen were cut off from paying tribute by the two countries and did not pay tribute for fifty years."
The emperor was overjoyed when he heard this. He thought Su Shi was indeed very talented. After a few questions, he found out that he was very much to his liking.
The emperor said, "But I have never forgotten the Jurchens over the years."
"When I formulated the etiquette for foreign nations, I ranked Liao first, Goryeo second, and Jurchen third."
"Although the Jurchens have not paid tribute to me for fifty years, I have always been waiting for them. Previously, Wu Juhou, the judge of Jingdong Transportation, proposed to cross the sea to find the Jurchens in the name of buying horses."
After a pause, the emperor asked, "I intend to send you to Korea as an envoy to contact the Jurchens. What do you think?"
Su Shi was surprised and happy when he heard this.
In fact, Su Shi once had the opportunity to be sent as an envoy to Goryeo, but he canceled it.
Su Shi complained after learning about it: "I suddenly heard that I was to be sent to Goryeo. I was so happy to have found someone, but then I heard that he was dismissed. Why?"
Later, Su Shi learned that Lin Xi was going to be an envoy to Goryeo, and he was very happy to congratulate him, saying, "Floating on the vast ocean, watching the sunrise, and letting people in remote areas know about Master Lin's existence is also one of the most beautiful things in life."
That’s right, I went to Goryeo just to show off!
Seeing Su Shi's happy expression, the emperor was relieved. He felt that Zhang Yue had recommended the right person and that Su Shi was honest.
The emperor laughed and said, "I heard that you wrote a poem before, 'The little boat has gone from here, and the rivers and seas will be the rest of my life'. The local officials all thought that you had escaped, right?"
Su Shi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "All the praise and criticism I have received in my life are of this kind."
Su Shi regretted what he said, but the emperor was not angry. Instead, he laughed and said, "I finally know what kind of person you are."
Su Shi didn't know what the emperor meant and was deeply terrified.
After Su Shi left the palace, the emperor sighed, "It will be hard to find such a talent in the world!"
Xunguanjia asked his attendants, "Can Su Shi be the prime minister?"
Shi Deyi and his companions were so stunned that they were unable to answer for a moment. They could only complain in their hearts that the government was too fickle.
……
After Su Shi left the palace, another heavy snow fell.
At this time, several officials came over and saluted, saying, "Mr. Su, you are polite. Prime Minister Zhang invites you to the West Hall of the Secretariat for a chat!"
Su Shi smiled slightly.
Immediately, several officials came to serve Su Shi, some holding the lamp and some holding the umbrella, and provided him with very considerate service.
Su Shi didn't get much snow on his body along the way.
When he arrived at the west hall of the Zhongshu, Su Shi immediately saw Zhang Yue standing under the eaves.
The prime minister actually went out to greet him personally. In the past, he would have smiled and said a few words. But now Su Shi said, "I am a person who has just been released from prison. How dare I trouble the prime minister to come and greet me in person?"
Zhang Yue said: "How can such a simple custom be designed for people like you and me?"
After saying this, Zhang Yue said to Su Shi: "The world can do without me, Zhang Yue, but it cannot do without Brother Zizhan!"
PS: Happy National Day, brothers and sisters!
(End of this chapter)