nycdaug Chapter 292 New Era
Chapter 292 New Era
In the first month of the fourth year of Zhiping (1067), Emperor Yingzong of Song passed away and Crown Prince Zhao Ceying succeeded to the throne. The following year, he changed the reign title to Xining and declared a general amnesty. Later generations gave him the temple name "Shenzong".
For a time, the entire court was plunged into sadness over the death of Emperor Yingzong and joy over the accession of Emperor Shenzong to the throne. This complex and contradictory mood filled everyone's heart.
Thanks to the small-scale pilot reforms that began in the late years of Emperor Renzong's reign and then to the formal implementation of the new policies during Emperor Yingzong's four-year reign, the "three redundancies and two accumulations" problems throughout the Song Dynasty were suppressed and alleviated.
The government is in good order, the people are harmonious, all things are being revived, the fiscal surplus is being saved, people's livelihood is gradually being stabilized, and the military is being strengthened...
At this moment, the situation of the Song Dynasty was the best in the more than 100 years since its founding. Both internally and externally, there were signs of the beginning of a peaceful era.
This made the newly-crowned Emperor Shenzong very excited, and he lamented that a new era was coming and that the Song Dynasty would rule the world with its unstoppable and strongest power, dominating all directions.
In February of the fourth year of Zhiping, Emperor Shenzong honored Empress Dowager Cao (Renzong) as Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Shen (Yingzong) as Empress Dowager, and ordered Prime Minister Han Zhang to be the Mountain and Mausoleum Envoy (in charge of the emperor's funeral).
In the same month, Han Zhang was appointed as Sikong and Shizhong, Zeng Mingzhong was appointed as Menxia Shilang and Minister of Personnel, and was promoted to Duke of Yan, and Wen Kuanfu was appointed as Shangshu Zuo Pushe, Jiancha Situ and Zhongshu Ling.
Fu Yanguo was appointed as Privy Councilor and Minister of Revenue, and was granted the title of Jiedushi of Wuning Army and promoted to Duke of Zheng. Cao Yi was granted the title of Jiedushi of Zhaoqing Army and Inspecting Taifu.
The former Privy Councilor Zhang Bian was appointed as the Jiedushi of Heyang Sancheng, and Zhao Zongye (Yingzong's cousin) was appointed as the Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, and was appointed as the Jiedushi of Jiqing Army and the Inspector of Shangshu Zuo Pushe.
Ouyang Wenzhong and Zhao Gai were both promoted to Shangshu Zuocheng and continued to serve as Canjingzhengshi. Chen Shengzhi was appointed as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lü Baochen as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Yunbi and Yunliang were both promoted to Guardian Taibao.
Wang Jiefu was appointed as the co-editor of the regulations for the three ministries and was given the title of Vice-chancellor, officially entering the central government and becoming one of the ministers.
Although he was in charge of the Sansi Yamen before, he was not officially granted the duties of Sansi Envoy or Sansi Deputy Envoy.
Including this reward, Wang Jiefu was not given the status of a chief official in the yamen. He just added a title of "Assistant Prime Minister" after the "Three Departments Regulations Office" to enable him to better intervene in the Three Departments yamen.
Subsequently, Emperor Shenzong appointed his younger brother Zhao Hao, Prince of Dongyang, as Prince of Chang, and Zhao Yu, Duke of Hu, as Prince of Le'an.
Han Ming was the Deputy Privy Councilor and Minister of War, and was also the Vice Prime Minister. He was granted the title of Jiedushi of Yongxing Army, and was promoted to Jinzi Guanglu Dafu, Guanjun General, and Shang Hujun.
It can be said that the person who received the most comprehensive titles here was a certain Han. As in the reigns of Emperor Renzong and Emperor Yingzong, whenever he was promoted to a higher position, he had to have all three civil and military merits.
Unfortunately, the title of nobility was too strict in the Song Dynasty. Although Han was qualified to be a duke, as a civil servant, this dukedom was purely a personal honor.
It is somewhat different from the kind that can be passed down. After a person dies, his descendants cannot inherit it at all.
Although Mr. Han doesn't want his children to live by relying on the achievements of their ancestors, he can't leave nothing behind.
At least try to get a title that can be passed down from generation to generation, so that your children will have enough food and clothing, right?
But it’s too early to say these things now. Han is only 26 years old. There is still a lot of time ahead of him and there will always be opportunities.
With this thought in mind, Han Ming happily took the imperial edict awarding him the title and placed it on a wall in the study.
All of these were imperial edicts bestowing various honors since he entered the officialdom. Looking at the bright yellow silk covering half of the wall, Han sighed, "In my previous life, I had certificates of honor posted, and in this life, I have imperial edicts hanging on my head. I'm the only one who has been treated this way..."
With the initial establishment of the first power center of the Shenzong Dynasty, the minor turmoil in the Song Dynasty after the death of Yingzong was eliminated.
However, in this seemingly good situation, undercurrents are quietly growing.
In March of the same year, Emperor Shenzong symbolically sent Feng Xingji to express condolences to the Liao Dynasty, a "brother country" in the north that was already in name only.
Such an action was nothing more than the Song Dynasty's top leaders hoping to take this opportunity to ease the tension between the two countries and temporarily stabilize the Liao Dynasty.
But in the far north, the former Liao people did not think so. On the one hand, they were unwilling to lose the huge wealth of annual tribute, and on the other hand, they also saw the opportunity of the Song Dynasty to change the dynasty.
Therefore, as an old subordinate of Xiao Yi who had been annihilated, he secretly colluded with some radical forces in Western Xia, especially Mo Zang Epang, who had been jointly suppressed by the Song Dynasty and Li Liangzuo since the seventh year of Jiayou.
He had been looking for an opportunity to overthrow Xia Yizong Li Liangzuo in one fell swoop, take control of the national power, and then cooperate with the Liao Dynasty to attack the Song Dynasty.
In May of the fourth year of Zhiping, the Liao Dynasty stationed troops in the Shenwu direction of Shuozhou in Xijing Road, and the Western Xia stationed troops in the Mingsha area, and began to try to provoke trouble in Ninghua Army (Song) and Weizhou (Song).
It is obvious that Liao and Xia intended to create some small-scale conflicts to test the bottom line of the Song Dynasty.
In the court, the new power centers were keenly aware of this uneasy atmosphere.
Privy Council officials headed by Fu Yanguo advised Emperor Shenzong that border defenses needed to be strengthened to eliminate the ambitions of the Liao and Xia countries.
Emperor Shenzong listened to the advice of the Privy Council and immediately sent a group of experienced generals from the central imperial guards after the military reform to patrol the border.
He tried to respond to the provocations of Liao and Xia with strong measures. This tough attitude made many people understand how Emperor Shenzong handled foreign relations.
At the same time, taking advantage of the death of Emperor Yingzong, some conservative scholars and officials who had been affected by the new policies began to secretly collude.
They believed that the current unstable situation was a good opportunity to stir up trouble, to challenge the new policies, and to see if they could get the new emperor to abolish them.
The saying "a new emperor, new ministers" and "a policy ends with the death of a person" has existed in every dynasty. Maybe Emperor Shenzong was not as persistent as his father?
So, this group of literati and scholars got carried away and started spreading rumors that the new policies destroyed the ancestral laws, causing Emperor Yingzong to be punished by heaven and die early.
They also attempted to incite the people to oppose the new policies and launch a boycott movement, but most people benefited from the new policies and had real benefits, so they did not believe the words of the literati.
These things were collected by officials from all over the country and submitted to the Secretariat. When the ministers saw that this was a serious problem and that it was slandering the late emperor, they were doomed.
In the end, Han Zhang and others were unable to suppress the matter, so they could only submit the memorial to Emperor Shenzong, who had just ascended the throne for three or four months and was actively thinking about his next step.
This angered the filial Emperor Shenzong. Although the Song Dynasty had a rule not to kill scholars and officials, it did not mean that they could not be punished.
Emperor Shenzong, without hesitation, ordered a nine-clan exile package, plus a lifetime fishing ticket to Qiongzhou.
Looking at this group of scholars and literati crying for help, asking for help from their connections, and begging for mercy, the yamen runners who were carrying out the orders twitched their lips and could not bear to watch.
You said you were living a good life, but you had to go against the court. You said you wanted to go against the court, so you went against the court, but you had to drag the late emperor into the matter without knowing the consequences.
No matter how many faults and mistakes Emperor Yingzong had, he firstly reversed the situation between Song and Liao, secondly his new policies and reforms benefited the people, and thirdly he revived the national strength.
When discussing Zhao Zongquan's temple name, Han Ming didn't think about him at all. Originally, only someone like him was given the title of "Yingzong" in history. Now that he is more powerful than his contemporaries, the title of "Yingzong" can still be avoided.
Therefore, when Han proposed to give Zhao Zongquan the temple name "Yingzong", Emperor Shenzong was almost moved to tears.
He held Han Ming's hand tightly and wouldn't let go. His words were full of praise and gratitude for Han's generosity, saying that he was worthy of being a considerate and caring person.
As a result, many people in the court who were "sour grapes" secretly mocked Han as a treacherous and flattering person, and were unwilling to associate with him.
But no matter what, Emperor Yingzong's achievements are still real, and he has the endorsement of the court and the people. Tell me, how dare you slander the late emperor against the wind? This is not a matter of life and death.
Therefore, most of the first half of the fourth year of Zhiping was spent on clearing out the group of literati and scholars who were labeled as "outlaws" by Han.
As time went by, in early July, news came from the border that the situation had stabilized and the Song army had successfully repelled a small group of invading enemy forces.
As for the rumors and gossips about the new policies among the people within the court, a formal and fierce debate and struggle ensued around the reforms.
Many reformist ministers were like chickens with their blood pumped up. They listed the achievements of the new policies and refuted them one by one, forcing the conservative nobles to flee in fear.
Seeing that the Song Dynasty is still moving steadily forward along the path of governance and heading towards a more prosperous future, Han couldn't help but sigh: "The curtain of a new era is finally about to be opened..."