Chapter 244 Leading by Example
Zhao Xing wanted to say something, but the emperor didn't give him a chance to speak. He said, "It's settled. He will serve as the prince's guest and attendant. I have something else to do. You can go back first."
The Prince's Guest is an official title, not a name for a guest.
The Prince's Guest is an official of the third rank, with the responsibility of attending and admonishing the Crown Prince.
The work done by the Jiujiulang and Jiujiusheren is similar, but they are called differently.
"Father, your Majesty, I can agree to let him serve as the Crown Prince's guest, but forget about the attendant. Otherwise, Your Majesty, please depose me as the Crown Prince." Zhao Xing said with a determined look on his face.
The emperor's father was determined to send Sima Guang to the Eastern Palace, and Zhao Xing could not refuse.
Sima Guang served as the prince's guest, so even if he was a little annoying, he could ignore him like his father did.
However, Sima Guang was determined not to be appointed as the attendant.
The position of the attendant was not high, but he was responsible for recording Zhao Xing's every word and action.
He would follow Zhao Xing whenever he went out, and his records would include which concubine's room Zhao Xing stayed in every night.
In history, many emperors were rumored to be illegitimate children.
The most widely circulated rumor is that Qin Shihuang's biological father was Lu Buwei.
In fact, such a thing was almost impossible to happen in the ancient court.
Because there are clear records of when concubines were favored.
According to regulations, the prince is not allowed to read what the attendant records.
Zhao Xing's original recorder was completely subdued by him using various means. Every once in a while, he would show the contents of the record to Zhao Xing for review, and then modify it according to Zhao Xing's instructions.
Some not-so-good content was glossed over or even not recorded.
If Sima Guang were appointed as the recorder, given his personality, he would record every detail.
Moreover, Sima Guang also has the right to advise and remonstrate. Who can stand him chatting beside him all day long?
"Well, let him be the prince's guest." Seeing Zhao Xing so determined, Zhao Xing hesitated for a moment and said.
"Thank you, father. I'll take my leave now!" Zhao Xing bowed.
…………
After returning to the Eastern Palace, Zhao Xing ordered someone to find Wang Anshi.
After Wang Anshi arrived, he asked about the progress of the matter.
"Your Highness, I have sent people to various counties and have found evidence of illegal activities by some local landlords and gentry," Wang Anshi replied.
"In that case, there is no need to continue investigating. Let's just start arresting people based on what we have found so far." Zhao Xing said.
He never thought of catching all the landlords and gentry in Kaifeng Prefecture in one fell swoop.
Not to mention that it is not realistic to do so, since landlords and gentry have existed for so many years, there must be a reason for their existence.
The existence of landlords and gentry plays an important role in maintaining social stability at the grassroots level.
They are also the link between the government and the people.
Rural governance, taxation, grain payment, military service, labor, and education all require these people to complete.
If there were no landlords and gentry, there would be a gap between the government and the people.
With the current staffing of county-level officials, it is simply impossible to complete the task of managing a county.
Zhao Xing initially mobilized a group of people to make an example of them and frighten the rest.
"Your Highness, isn't this a little too early? Why don't we wait a little longer?" Wang Anshi said.
Only seven or eight days had passed since Zhao Xing asked him to investigate for evidence of illegal activities by the landlords and gentry.
It seems not short, but not much solid evidence is found, so not many people can be mobilized.
"That's enough. I just want to tell them that I have plenty of ways to deal with them. The smart ones will naturally know what to do, and if there are stupid ones, I also have time to deal with them." Zhao Xing said.
"Yes, I understand." Wang Anshi replied.
Zhao Xing gave Wang Anshi some instructions and changed the subject, "By the way, I heard that Jiefu and Sima Guang are good friends?"
Wang Anshi was startled when he heard this, then smiled bitterly and said, "Jun Shi and I are indeed good friends, but that was all in the past."
"Oh?" Zhao Xing asked curiously, "Can you tell me about it?"
He remembered that Wang Anshi and Sima Guang seemed to be friends in history. Although they later had different political views, they did not break up because of their political views.
Zhao Xing originally wanted to have Sima Guang come to the Eastern Palace to work. If he was too annoying, he would ask Wang Anshi to persuade him.
"There is nothing that cannot be said. Since Your Highness wants to hear it, I will talk to Your Highness."
Wang Anshi pondered for a while and said, "I have known Junshi for more than ten years. Junshi always pointed out the problems of the court, which I admire very much. I advocate reform, but Junshi has always opposed it. Neither I nor he could convince the other. Later, because I wrote a letter to the emperor requesting reform, he cut off contact with me after learning about it."
"I see." Zhao Xing nodded and asked, "Then what do you think of Sima Guang?"
"You are indeed a gentleman!" Wang Anshi said without even thinking.
"You have a very high opinion of him. Aren't you angry that he opposes the reform?" Zhao Xing asked.
Wang Anshi shook his head and said, "Your Highness, Junshi is actually also determined to solve the court's long-standing problems. It's just that his methods of solving the problems are different from mine. There is nothing to be angry about. Junshi cut off contact with me, not because I don't agree with him."
"Oh? What's the reason?" "Before we cut off contact, he wrote me a letter saying that he and I have different ideas. If we were to contact each other, he would definitely want to convince the other party. But he and I both have firm personalities, so this would only affect our friendship. In this case, we might as well cut off contact from now on and use what we have learned to prove who is right and who is wrong." Wang Anshi said.
"You are quite confident." Zhao Xing praised them first, then said with a slightly cold expression, "Have you ever thought about how much harm this would cause to the court?"
The reason why the two were praised for their confidence was because they agreed to use their talents to prove what they wanted.
Whether it was Wang Anshi's reform or Sima Guang's advocacy of official administration, if both of them wanted to realize their ambitions, they had to hold high positions.
At that time, the two men did not hold high official positions, but they made such an agreement, which shows how confident they were.
The two men did have the capital to be confident, and later they both served as prime ministers and presided over the government.
However, the struggle between the two over whether to carry out reforms led to factional strife, which not only failed to make the Song Dynasty prosperous, but instead caused serious court struggles.
Upon hearing this, Wang Anshi looked at Zhao Xing in confusion.
He didn't know why Zhao Xing suddenly got angry. After all, he couldn't predict what would happen in the future.
"Sima Guang will be coming to the East Palace to take up his post in the next few days. Since you are familiar with him, you can welcome him on my behalf."
Zhao Xing's expression eased. It was indeed wrong to blame the two of them for something that had not happened in the future.
However, since Sima Guang and Wang Anshi could not convince each other, let them continue to convince each other, so as to avoid Sima Guang bothering him.
"Yes!"
Although Wang Anshi felt a little puzzled, he still agreed.
"By the way, when you arrest someone, make sure you have sufficient evidence and don't give anyone an advantage." Zhao Xing said.
"I will keep your instructions in mind, Your Highness!" Wang Anshi responded respectfully. Seeing that Zhao Xing had no other instructions, he took his leave and left.
…………
Wang Anshi was very decisive and efficient. Since Zhao Xing ordered him to take action now, he did not delay. After leaving the Eastern Palace, he returned to the Kaifeng government office and took action.
In order to prevent the landlords and gentry from knowing the news in advance, he did not mobilize the yamen runners from the lower counties, but directly mobilized the yamen runners from Kaifeng Prefecture to arrest people.
Such a big commotion naturally could not be hidden from the officials in Kaifeng Prefecture.
However, all the officials in Kaifeng Prefecture knew that Wang Anshi was the Crown Prince's confidant, so even though they were curious, they did not dare to inquire.
As the Shao Yin of Kaifeng Prefecture, Sheng Hong had to ask.
When he learned that it was Zhao Xing's order, Sheng Hong did not dare to ask any more questions, but instead took the initiative to cooperate.
With Sheng Hong's cooperation, many things became simpler.
Soon, all the foremen of the yamen runners in the Kaifeng government office were summoned back. After Wang Anshi gave some instructions, these foremen left the government office, gathered their subordinates, and left Bianliang.
The so-called hangers-on are actually equivalent to temporary workers.
In ancient times, the salaries of yamen runners were paid by county officials, and the court did not have to pay for them.
It was impossible for county officials to employ too many yamen runners, but at times, too few of them were not enough.
So there came into being temporary helpers, and these helpers were found by the yamen runners themselves, and each yamen runner could find ten helpers.
If these yamen runners feel they cannot complete a task assigned by their superiors, they will call on their hangers-on for help.
Although these hangers-on have no salary, they can make some money from their usual missions. This status may not be a big deal, but it is enough to oppress ordinary people.
The public security of Bianliang was under the responsibility of the Wucheng Bingmasi, so there were not many yamen runners in Kaifeng Prefecture, only about a hundred people.
There are more than a thousand hangers-on in the mountains, enough to catch people.
Although those landlords and gentry hired some guards, they were afraid of violating taboos as they were living under the emperor's feet, so they did not hire many.
In addition, these yamen runners represented the government, so no one dared to resist unless they wanted to rebel.
On that day, in several counties near Bian Jing, more than twenty landlords and gentry were visited by yamen runners and their hangers-on.
Some families had only a few people arrested, some had more than a dozen, and in some families even the entire family was arrested.
All those who were arrested were escorted back to Bian Jing, and those landlords and gentry whose families were not arrested were terrified.
Some people immediately sent people to inquire about the news, some sent people to contact their backers, some closed their doors, and some even simply took their families and ran to their relatives' homes for refuge.
While Wang Anshi was busy arresting people, a nursery rhyme came from somewhere in the city of Bianliang and quickly spread throughout the capital.
The content of the nursery rhyme praises the government for checking the land area, implementing the Qingmiao Law, and benefiting the people.
Needless to say, this nursery rhyme was written by Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing ignored all this and went to the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion with Zhang Guifen early in the morning.
This is the second time Zhang Guifen has come back since she married Zhao Xing.
After getting on the carriage, Zhang Guifen looked very excited.
"I've already told you that you can come back often when you have nothing to do. It's as if I don't allow you to go back," Zhao Xing blamed.
"I am the Crown Princess, so I must set an example. If I go back to my parents' home every few days, what will the other concubines think?" Zhang Guifen shook her head.
(End of this chapter)