After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

Chapter 293: So-called Factions and Reforms

Although the fourth year of Zhiping was spent in a turbulent period, compared with the time four years ago when two emperors were replaced in less than a year, Emperor Shenzong's accession to the throne and subsequent stabilization of the government were relatively good.

Of course, if we add in the literati and scholars who slandered the late Emperor Yingzong for no reason, it would have been a very disturbing year.

But no matter what, the rumors among the people and the minor disputes within the court could not affect the in-depth promotion of the new policy reforms.

The fourth year of Zhiping continued the several documents on "Deepening the Reform of the New Deal" decided by Emperor Yingzong and the central government at the beginning of the third year of Zhiping.

As a result, by the end of the fourth year of Zhiping, the "deepening reform and change" that had been implemented for almost two years had achieved unprecedented remarkable results.

Politically, the old generation of prime ministers headed by Han Zhang and Fu Yanguo, the middle generation of main forces headed by Wang Jiefu, Sima Junshi, and Han Shipu, and the new generation of dignitaries headed by Han Ming, Gu Tingye, and Sheng Changbai were basically established.

That is to say, in terms of politics, Emperor Shenzong will only promote and select personnel from these three circles.

Among them, the majority are people from the Han family and the Han Party. The opposition and conservatives have no choice but to try to build a bridge with Han Zhang, Han Shipu and Han Ming through Lu Baochen, a centrist.

You read that right. Lu Baochen, who was once one of the representatives of the conservative faction, found a way to better expand the political prestige of the Lu family and himself after being reminded by Emperor Yingzong and a certain Han.

As the leader of the centrists, Lu Baochen's ability to balance and communicate between the new policy faction and the conservative faction allowed him to gain greater political resources and personal connections.

In just four years, he coordinated and resolved many issues, and with the support of conservatives and new policy factions, the old man also stepped into the core.

It can be said that the old man is indeed experienced. Lu Baochen's political stance and the time he chose happened to be when the power between the new policy faction and the conservative faction was unbalanced.

Although he seemed to have betrayed the conservatives, he did not join the New Deal faction. He used his former prestige to win over more officials who did not want to join factions and just wanted to do their jobs well.

For example, the Su brothers are typical examples. Su, who was originally close to Han, always felt that some people were taking advantage of the momentum of the New Dealers to benefit themselves in his subsequent contacts with New Deal officials.

This made Su Shi, who was somewhat politically obsessed, immediately distance himself from the New Deal faction. At the same time, because of the conservative faction's lifeless attitude, the great writer had no choice but to turn to the centrist faction.

There is another interesting person, Sima Junshi. He was originally a member of the New Deal faction, but because he had to compile the great work "Zizhi Tongjian", he gradually faded out of the core of the Han Party and moved closer to the centrist faction.

When Sima Junshi and Su Shi, two big names in the literary and historical circles, came together, there were no more fierce conflicts that had occurred in history.

On the contrary, because they were both centrists, they often discussed literary classics and their relationship became closer.

Sima Junshi valued the talents of the Su brothers and directly asked Emperor Shenzong to include them in the compilation of "Zizhi Tongjian" to complete the work together.

As a result, Emperor Shenzong was very hesitant. After all, the Su brothers were talented and had a good way of governing the country. If they were to compile history books, it would be a waste of their talents.

He admired Su Shi and Su Ziyu very much and wanted to promote them, but Sima Junshi spoke up. As a former member of the Han Party and a supporter of the Emperor Party, he had to give them face.

In the end, they could only find a certain Han who was taking care of the children at home. When he heard that the Su brothers and Sima Junshi were both interested in staying away from the new policy faction, he didn't think it was a pity.

After all, everyone has different views on the new policy. The Su brothers feel that there are problems within the new policy faction, and Sima Junshi has no time to participate in policy guidance, so let them be.

As the old saying goes: It will rain and my wife will get married! There are some people you can’t stop.

"The angel replied to the emperor, Lord Sima and Lord Su have their own political views and will not change easily."

"Master Su should stay in the administration department and let Master Lu (Lu Haoqing) and Master Sheng (Sheng Changbai) lead the charge."

Han Ming's words can be said to have opened up a smooth official career path for Su Ziyu, the second son of the Su family. After all, in the future, Lu Haoqing, Sheng Changbai and others will all enter the government hall, which is an advance announcement that Su Ziyu has the talent to be a prime minister.

Li Xian, who came to inquire, nodded quickly and remembered everything Han said.

"Also, please tell the emperor that the so-called New Dealers, Centrists, and Conservatives are all different ideologies, but ultimately, they all must serve the entire Song Dynasty."

"Their existence represents the voice of all officials and the people. We cannot simply kill them all with one blow. A one-man show of authority is never a good solution in any era."

Mr. Han used Sima Junshi and the Su brothers' distancing themselves from the New Deal faction to persuade Emperor Shenzong.

He knew that Emperor Shenzong was stubborn, resolute and courageous. When he was in power, he dared to demote anyone.

Especially after the failure of the "Xining Reforms", during the Yuanfeng period, Emperor Shenzong stepped out from behind the scenes of the reforms and began a head-on confrontation with the conservatives.

This confrontation revealed that the resistance to reform was still huge and was still accompanied by voices of opposition.

This made Emperor Shenzong, who was already very sad about the loss of Wang Jiefu and had to face enormous pressure alone, a little annoyed.

He decided to take tougher measures to implement the new laws and severely punish officials who opposed the reforms.

This led to a large number of officials being implicated and exiled, and even allowed many speculators to take advantage of the opportunity and run rampant in the court under the guise of reform.

Although Han is tough and decisive, he is basically only against outsiders. Internally, he still hopes to unite the majority, isolate a small number of people, and finally gain the support of the majority.

He hoped that Emperor Shenzong would also be able to have a good attitude to face the future. After all, compared with him at the same time, the situation inside and outside the court was very good.

Emperor Shenzong also had many more comrades-in-arms than his counterpart in a parallel universe.

On the last day of the turbulent fourth year of Zhiping, the first year of Xining under Emperor Shenzong arrived as scheduled.

At the grand court meeting on the first day of the first lunar month, in addition to officially changing the reign title to "Xining", the new policy reformists headed by Han Ming put forward suggestions for "sustainable" and "expanded" reforms.

For a time, the entire court was as noisy as a vegetable market. Everyone felt that the new policy reforms had reached their limit after being promoted from trial to formal implementation and then to deepening.

The suggestions of "continuity" and "expansion" left them a little confused, and even some officials who actually implemented the reform were a little bewildered.

Han Ming and Wang Jiefu looked at each other, nodded and smiled at the same time.

"Your Majesty, the Book of Changes, Xici, says: 'After the death of Shennong, the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun arose.'"

"Understand the changes so that the people will not tire; transform them with divine power so that the people will adapt to it."

“When you are exhausted, you must change; when you change, you will be able to gain access; when you gain access, you will last.”

"Thus, Heaven blesses us, and nothing will go wrong. The Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun laid down their robes, and the world was governed. This was probably due to the principles of Qian and Kun."

The general meaning of this passage is: After Shennong's death, Huangdi, Yao and Shun succeeded to the throne one after another. They not only inherited Shennong's principles of governing the country, but also made changes based on the specific domestic environment to ensure that the people had enough food and clothing.

After Shennong's way of governing the world changed, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment; change, when things develop to the extreme, people will think of changing them in order to achieve success, and with success comes longevity.

This is the blessing from heaven, and you will be successful in everything you do.

"Therefore, the path of reform should not be a completed one, but should remain an ongoing one, adapting to the changing circumstances."

"We must adhere to the fundamental working requirement of practice, promote cognition through practice, and conduct and advance reforms based on facts."

“At the same time, we must expand the inspection and review system to monitor problems that arise during the implementation of the New Deal by government agencies across the country.”

"'Sustainable' reform aims to maintain the vitality of a dynasty, while 'expansion' reform requires that officials be included in the reform targets and promote self-reflection."

As soon as Han finished speaking, the entire court fell into silence, and many people even looked at him with disbelief.

Is this a way to revolutionize yourself?!