Chapter 38 Chu Zi sends a poem!
Han Zhang is a master of political infighting.
At that morning court session, Chu Hong successfully linked Wang Qinruo's treachery to Zhao Zhen's political dark spots.
Either Wang Qinruo would be deposed, or Zhao Zhen would be reviled a hundred years later.
Since then, the Han faction has gained the upper hand and launched an all-out counterattack, with various impeachment memorials being filed every day.
For a time, Korean officials from all over the country were dedicated to collecting dirty information about Wang Qinruo and others.
After combining various negative information, Chu Hong submitted a memorial titled "Memorial on Traitors and Elites Who Mislead the Country" in extremely simple words. There was nothing new about the negative information in this memorial, as most of it were trivial things that at least Emperor Zhao Zhen must have known about it a long time ago.
The most important thing is the last sentence in the memorial: Xuanzong was in a state of panic in his later years, fearing that people who would comment on history in the future would judge him as a fool and a violent person. Concubine Yang died of illness and the court was in chaos, and people would say that treacherous ministers were in power. Xuanzong was not virtuous in his later years, so his reputation was ruined in an instant. If Xuanzong had appointed wise men and distinguished between treacherous and evil in his later years, he would have been another Taizong.
Well. Just tell Zhao Zhen that if he keeps a treacherous minister like Wang Qinruo in his later years, and there are quarrels in the court now, his reputation in future generations after his death will be affected.
Emperors undoubtedly care most about their reputation during their lifetime and after their death. Who doesn't want to be compared with the sages and be praised for all eternity?
Even if you are not as good as the sages, at least you won't be cursed for thousands of years.
This sentence has great power, but also small power.
This sentence would not have been so shocking to most emperors, but Zhao Zhen had no children.
Generally speaking, an emperor's reputation after death cannot be bad. Even if he did something bad that angered God and people, he could still get a medium-level posthumous title.
However, this is based on the premise that the emperor has offspring, and the one who inherits the throne is his biological son, who will become the ancestor of this lineage after his death.
Zhao Zhen had no children, so naturally he was most worried that his posthumous title would be manipulated by the royal family members after his death.
It is said that after Zhao Zhen carefully read the memorial, he did not close his eyes all night and kept muttering something.
Three days after reading the memorial, the investigation by Minister Wen Yanbo and Commander-in-Chief Fu Chang of the Palace Front Department came to an end - it was true!
After that, Wang Qinruo, Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, "voluntarily" retired and went to a small county in Yongzhou to teach, which was an extremely remote and cold place.
Wang Qinruo's younger brother was given the death penalty, and other members of the Wang family were either imprisoned or given the death penalty.
On the Wang faction's side, the Minister of Justice Zhao Ji was demoted to the position of Tongpan of Daizhou. All the high-ranking officials were either demoted to serve in small places or "voluntarily" retired and returned to their hometowns.
When Wang Qinruo was demoted, the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet naturally became vacant.
However, this position did not fall into the hands of the Han family. In order to balance it, Zhao Zhen reused Feng Cheng, an old man from the Wang family who was over 70 years old.
This man, who once served as the Minister of Justice, had a very introverted personality. He had a low presence when he was an official and was also very cautious in character. He could barely be considered a clean figure.
However, the position of the Minister of Justice fell into the hands of the Han faction. The new Minister of Justice was an old man of the Han faction named Zhang Yu.
This was a truly noble man, with the bearing of a scholar. Chu Hong had a lot of interactions with him in private, and Zhang Yu's third son Zhang Heng also had a good relationship with Chu Hong.
Things slowly calmed down.
On a stormy night, Emperor Zhao Zhen summoned Han Zhang and Chu Hong.
Zhao Zhen encouraged Chu Hong and promoted him to the fifth rank of Zuo Chunfang Zuo Shuzi, and concurrently the fifth rank of Hanlin Academy Attending Bachelor. He also asked Han Zhang in detail about the strategy of governing the world, and did not finish until late at night.
Three months later, on a quiet morning, the dust settled and the government officially announced that Han Zhang was promoted to prime minister, chief minister of the cabinet, and chief minister of the Privy Council, with full authority over the Secretariat. He was also appointed as the Grand Pillar of the State and the Grand Secretary of the Zhaowen Palace.
Han Zhang, the sixty-year-old man who had obtained three of the six ministries, officially started his career as a prime minister ruling the world.
Han Zhang was promoted, and many official positions in the Wang family became vacant. Naturally, people in the Han family also benefited a lot.
It’s a pity that Chu Yu was promoted to the position of Assistant Governor of Jiangnan East Road some time ago, so he didn’t get any benefits from the version this time.
During these three months, Chu Hong was first promoted to the fifth rank of Zuo Chunfang Zuo Shuzi because of the emperor's words, and also served as a bachelor of imperial studies. After this, he was given an additional honorary position of Taizhong Daifu.
Taizhong Daifu was a fourth-rank official position with no real power and was generally used to demonstrate official rank and reward.
As Chu Hong's father-in-law and a person on the same side as him, Sheng Hong naturally benefited from the victory. He was promoted from the sixth rank to the fifth rank of Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Works, and concurrently the fifth rank of Chao San Da Fu.
Now, he is also wearing a scarlet robe and has gained a high position in the officialdom.
When one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit. Han Zhang, the leader, was promoted, and both the officials in the capital and the local officials were promoted one after another, and the official positions of countless people were changed in succession.
For a time, Korean brands were thriving.
Hanfu
Han Zhang was wearing a dark purple official robe and walked with light steps.
As he walked, he looked at his close servants, "Is Hong'er here?"
"Your Excellency is right. The young minister has already been waiting in the hall."
Chang Yun was filled with joy. His master had become the Prime Minister, and they, the servants, were also honored to have done so.
"Young Lord?" Han Zhang was startled, then laughed, "Interesting!"
"Since we are in the mansion, there is no need to call me 'Prime Minister'. Just call me 'Master' as usual!"
Han Zhang walked forward with high spirits, and corrected the servant's address. "Yes, Master."
In the living room, Chu Hong was chatting with Han Zhang's youngest son Han Jiayan.
As one of the few second-generation officials in the world, Han Jiayan received a good education. He had ambitions since he was young and studied hard.
Chu Hong got along quite well with him.
At this time, Han Zhang arrived.
"Master Han."
"Father."
Chu Hong and Han Jiayan saluted one after another.
Han Zhang was very pleased to see this scene as soon as he walked in. He immediately patted Chu Hong and Han Jiayan on the shoulders and said, "Fu Bi is about to return home, so we specially held a farewell banquet today. Have you thought about what to give as a gift?"
Han Jiayan said truthfully: "Father, if you give me some vulgar things, it would be a bit cheap. Mr. Fu Da doesn't need some vulgar things. I once got a piece of special sandalwood, but I planned to give it to someone else."
Born in a top family, he naturally knew what gifts should be given.
Han Zhang also nodded with satisfaction. The specially made sandalwood was neither expensive nor not expensive. The key point was that it was not about money and was not so worldly.
Han Zhang looked at his favorite student.
Chu Hong smiled gently, "The students wrote two articles."
"Oh? Two?"
Han Zhang was a little curious. Usually, only one article was sent as a gift, so why were there two this time?
"One for Mr. Fu, and one for the teacher."
Chu Hong smiled, but did not take out the article, "Teacher, you will know when the time comes."
"OK!"
Han Zhang laughed, feeling a little curious and expectant.
Without waiting any longer, he took his beloved disciple and son to attend the banquet to bid farewell to the former prime minister.
As a farewell party for the former prime minister, it was naturally extremely lively.
But behind the bustle, there is also a bit of loneliness.
The protagonist of this banquet is Fu Bi, but he is not Fu Bi.
In other words, there were two protagonists in this banquet, one was Han Zhang and the other was Fu Bi.
One is responsible for people's flattery and closeness, and the other is responsible for accepting gifts from people.
One is full of vigor and vitality, while the other is left alone.
This is nothing surprising. Fu Bi had no offspring and no particularly proud disciples. No matter how powerful he was, he was destined to fall.
Compared with other prime ministers and ministers, Fu Bi was completely forgotten from the day he retired.
If there is anything praiseworthy about this banquet, apart from its grand scale and the large number of high-ranking officials attending, the only thing worth mentioning is the young cabinet minister's article.
Well, young minister!
Ever since Han Zhang ascended to the position of Prime Minister, the story of Chu Hong's victory over the cabinet minister Wang Qinruo in a debate in the court has gradually spread. No one knows who started it, but the title of "Little Prime Minister" has gradually spread in Bianliang.
Of course, basically everyone only dares to call it that in private.
However, I don’t know if this gives people a sense of “stealing”, but the title of “Little Prime Minister” spread very quickly.
At this banquet, Chu Hong wrote two articles. One was titled "A Preface to My Mentor Lian Zheng", which was derived and expanded from "On the Love of Lotus" and mainly praised Han Zhang.
An article titled "A Preface to the Political Achievements of Prime Minister Fu Bi" mainly summarizes Fu Bi's achievements, and also extends his own ambitions, expressing his desire to reach the pinnacle of officialdom.
These two articles were of top-notch standard. They were written by a young cabinet minister, and the protagonists were two prime ministers. They attracted a lot of popularity and attracted the attention of officials.
As a result, these two articles caused a sensation in the official circles, and many people rushed to spread them.
Since then, after [Breaking Ice to Catch Carp], [Standing in the Snow at Han Men], [Becoming the Number One Scholar], and [Preface to Changbai in Youyang], Chu Hong once again became famous throughout the world.
Well, I benefited a little from the two prime ministers.
After the farewell party, everything returned to normal.
For Yu Chuhong, there was nothing new except that the teacher was the head of all officials.
Thus, time flies by.
……
(End of this chapter)