diskusbooks Chapter 88 Exile to Lingnan
Chapter 88 Exile to Lingnan
Wu Chuhou, who was just about to go find Cai Que, asked: ? ? ?
Damn, this kid came to me to learn poetry, I never would have guessed he was this kind of person!
Not only did they refuse to help, but they also acted like a big shot after being demoted!
What, do you think I'm easy to bully?!
……
Meanwhile, Lin Ke on the screen continued.
"Under Cai Que's repeated suppression, Wu Chuhou grew increasingly resentful of him. By chance, Wu Chuhou obtained the poem 'Summer Visit to Chegaiting' written by Cai Que during his visit to Chegaiting."
"Upon opening it, he immediately realized that the time for revenge had come, and he couldn't help but exclaim: 'My twenty-year-old grudge has finally been avenged!'"
"However, what he did not expect was that this personal grudge with Cai Que would be used by someone with ulterior motives and become the last straw that broke the back of the Song Dynasty's political ecology."
"But at this moment he was only caught up in the pleasure of getting revenge. He pointed out that in Cai Que's poem, there was a line: 'The outstanding minister Hao Zengshan, with loyal words and integrity during the Shangyuan era.' This line was a reference to Hao Chujun of the Tang Dynasty who opposed Emperor Gaozong of Tang's decision to have Wu Zetian abdicate. He specifically pointed out that Cai Que was dissatisfied with Empress Dowager Gao's regency."
Another line, "Yellow-mouthed fish swarm from their nests beneath the leaves, small fish busily race across the waves," he believed was Cai Que's satire of the newly powerful ministers of the Yuan You era who were busy purging the New Party.
A certain romantic and talented scholar from the Tang Dynasty: How come I didn't see that? ??
A student from the Ming Dynasty: It feels like a forced explanation!
Lü Gong of the Northern Song Dynasty wrote: ...
"In summary, Wu Chuhou took the opportunity to carry out a literary inquisition, while Cai Que wrote the poem in the second year of Yuanyou, but Wu Chuhou only dared to submit it to the emperor after Lü Gongzhe's death in the fourth year of Yuanyou."
"He wanted to ensure that no one in the court would stop him, so that he could use the literary inquisition to overthrow the former prime minister."
"This reminds me of Huang Wenbing from Shi Nai'an's 'Water Margin' written in the Ming Dynasty. I wonder if any friends from the Ming Dynasty have read it? Next time, I'll put the TV series adapted from it on a small screen, and those who are interested can take a look!"
Shi Nai'an, who was writing furiously: !!
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: How could such a book be so highly regarded by later generations?!
Liu Zhuzhu (Big Han): Hmm! I'm really curious what kind of book it is!?
……
Lin Ke saw Zhu Yuanzhang's comments and couldn't help but recall the historical rumors that Zhu Yuanzhang believed that Water Margin incited the people to rebel and even banned the book. He originally thought it was just an anecdote, but he didn't expect it to be true!
So Lin Ke replied, "Your Majesty Hongwu, I must tell you this: In later generations there are four great classical novels, three of which were written by authors from the Ming Dynasty, but it seems you don't like them?"
"These four classic novels are Shi Nai'an's *Water Margin* from the Ming Dynasty, Luo Guanzhong's *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, Cao Xueqin's *Dream of the Red Chamber* from the Qing Dynasty, and Wu Cheng'en's *Journey to the West* from the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: Hahaha... I never expected that three of the four great classical novels of later generations would be from the Ming Dynasty. Hahaha, it still has to be our Great Ming Dynasty!
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: ...
The Fourth Prince of the Qing Dynasty: ...
Lin Ke coughed a few times and continued, "Ahem, we've gone off on a tangent again. Back to the point, after receiving Wu Chuhou's memorial, Empress Dowager Gao did not express her opinion, but instead let the ruling class discuss it among themselves."
"In fact, by the fourth year of the Yuan You era, Empress Dowager Gao was no longer the young old lady who had just come to power. She looked down on Wu Chuhou for using such a despicable means to frame Cai Que. Compared to this, the methods used by the censors to suppress political enemies were far more sophisticated."
"So why did the Chegaiting Poetry Case have such a significant impact in history?"
"The reason still lies with the faction of censors led by Liu Zhi. After receiving Wu Chuhou's memorial, the censors Liang Tao, Liu Anshi, and Wu Anshi were filled with excitement, especially Wu Anshi, who had been persecuted by Cai Que."
"He was the son of Wu Chong, the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Shenzong. Long ago, when Cai Que launched a major purge, he arrested Wu Anshi in order to persecute Wu Chong. Given his style at the time, Wu Anshi probably suffered a lot. So it is not hard to understand why he hated Cai Que to the bone."
A Ming Dynasty soldier: This kid has so many enemies, it's no wonder he used to cause trouble!
A young man from the Song Dynasty who was caught up in the internet: Every cause has its effect, and your retribution is me!
……
"But don't be fooled by how enthusiastically these three are making things, Empress Dowager Gao replaced the neutral ministers in the Censorate and the Imperial Secretariat. In the end, it turns out that only these three are causing trouble. That's really something!"
"And these three people proved with their actions what it means to never give up until the very end."
"They kept impeaching, making full use of their diligence, and their impeachment memorials piled up in front of Empress Dowager Gao like snowflakes."
Gao Taotao of the Northern Song Dynasty: You're trying to work me to death!
"Over time, Old Madam Gao was actually moved, and the reason was related to the throne of the previous dynasty."
"There was a rumor among the people that Empress Dowager Gao originally intended for Shen Zong to pass the throne to her younger brother. It was only thanks to Cai Que's support that Zhe Zong was able to successfully succeed to the throne. However, this rumor did not have any impact on Empress Dowager Gao, and she did not pay much attention to it."
"However, the situation was different in the fourth year of the Yuanyou era. Cai Que, Zhang Dun and many other members of the New Party were demoted one after another. Emperor Zhezong of Song, a young emperor, remained taciturn, but he was a clever and quick-witted person when it came to studying."
"This silence made Empress Dowager Gao very uneasy. She was unsure whether Emperor Zhezong was hiding something."
“She didn’t care about Wu Chuhou’s impeachment of Cai Que; what she cared about was always the future. So when the remonstrating officials saw that Empress Dowager Gao went from being silent at the beginning to being furious, they knew that things were going well and then began to make a big fuss about it.”
A tea seller in the Ming Dynasty: Does the Empress Dowager not want to return power to Emperor Zhezong?
A member of the Tang Dynasty royal family: The taste of power, only those who have experienced it know!
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: I feel like Emperor Zhezong is in a bit of a sorry state. He's so young, and the court is being messed with by them!
……
According to the "Memorial on the Names of Cai Que and Wang Anshi's Fellows" in the middle volume of "Complete Works of the Song Dynasty", these old factions began to make a fuss about Cai Que forming a faction, not only involving the long-deceased Wang Anshi, but also making public the list of Cai Que and Wang Anshi's fellows.
"The list also includes Lü Huiqing, Zhang Dun, An Tao, and others. Even if some of them cannot be considered part of the New Party, those who oppose them can be considered part of Wang Anshi and Cai Que's faction."
Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty: ...
Zhang Dun of the Northern Song Dynasty: Speechless!
"Fifty people in the court were named by them, and Liu Zhi also stood up to support the idea of convicting these people."
"Why did the Yuan You ministers expel almost all the old officials from the Xi Feng era? This is actually partly due to Sima Guang."
"The radical reform plan left by Sima Guang was ultimately proven by time to be a flawed and chaotic government. Although the Yuan You ministers tried their best to patch it up, they eventually discovered that it was getting closer and closer to the Xining Reform?"
Optimistic Su Dongpo: Old Wang's methods always turn out surprisingly good in the end!!!
Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty: Hahahaha, I've struck gold!
"On the other hand, most of the officials in the court were accumulated during the reign of Emperor Shenzong. These Yuanyou ministers gradually realized that with their abilities, it would be difficult to change the policy inertia left by the reforms of the eighteenth year of Xining in a short period of time. Moreover, as Emperor Zhezong grew up, their worries were still about the future."
"The court's attitude toward Wang Anshi and Cai Que was also opposed by a large number of scholar-officials, such as Chancellor Fan Chunren and Su Shi, who was far away in Hangzhou. These people all wrote letters to plead for them, but in the end they could not overcome Empress Dowager Gao's ruthlessness."
“Cai Que was also demoted to Xinzhou in May of the fourth year of Yuanyou. This place is in Lingnan, which is often accompanied by miasma and has been a wild and desolate place since ancient times.”
"However, such punishment was very severe for Song Dynasty officials at the time, because in order to avoid repeating the collapse of the political ecology at the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Song Dynasty had long abandoned the practice of humane extermination, and the practice of exiling people to Lingnan had disappeared after Emperor Renzong took personal control of the government."
"Now that Empress Dowager Gao has reinstated him as the former prime minister, it seems like a blatant violation of political rules."
"Even Liu Zhi, who impeached Tsai Chueh, found it hard to believe. No matter how much he ostracized the New Party, he never thought of breaking the rules of politics. After all, the wheel of fortune turns, and he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't be ousted in the future."
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: [A female Yao and Shun (legendary sage rulers)]
A member of the Ming Dynasty royal family: Liu Zhi wasn't wrong; things really turned out quite tragically later!
Liu Zhi of the Northern Song Dynasty: ? ? ?
"Liu Zhi and others submitted memorials to Empress Dowager Gao, pleading for mercy on the grounds that Cai Que's mother was old, but the result was clear: they had completely underestimated the ruthlessness of this empress dowager!"
Empress Dowager Gao bluntly stated: "Mountains can be moved, but this prefecture cannot be moved." She then dispatched a eunuch and a military officer to force the elderly Cai Que to go to Xinzhou by escort.
"The last time Empress Dowager Gao treated him like this was Cao Yong, who was forced to death by the eunuch Yang Huaimin on his way. Such a decision was almost unbelievable to the most vocal censors, while the devastated Fan Chunren remained in the palace to show mercy to Cai Que."
"This road has been blocked for seventy or eighty years, but now it is to be opened. However, Emperor Zhezong remained silent in the face of Fan Chunren's pleas for mercy. Soon after, those who pleaded for Cai Que were dismissed."
"Alas, Cai Que only went to Lingnan first. In the end, there will always be officials who will continue on this path. Although the Chegaiting Poetry Case was eventually resolved, the chaos in the court is still ongoing."
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: We're just saying, is it possible that the fall of the Song Dynasty was also somewhat related to Gao Taotao?
A farming expert in the Ming Dynasty: Old Lady Gao is too ruthless, the Song Dynasty is doomed!
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: Damn it, this damned Empress Dowager is really going all out! ……/%……