Han Shizu

Chapter 2186 Renzong Chapter 3 Ouyang Dajia
Official ships were moored at the Xiangyang wharf. As a famous city with a long history and prosperous people, Xiangyang has undoubtedly been the number one city west of Beijing since its establishment.

The Jingxiang Plain is rich in fish and rice. During the long period of peace, it played a glorious song of agricultural civilization with the most advanced and developed productivity of the time. Although in recent decades, due to the further development and rise of the two lakes plain, Xiangyang's status in the central and southern regions has been greatly impacted.

However, due to its position as a water and land transportation hub in the south, it also played an important role in transporting finances and taxes from the Huguang region and part of the Sichuan region to the capital, which further promoted the prosperity of Xiangyang.

By the sixth year of Zhengtong, the Han Empire had been established for a hundred years. The size of Xiangyang City had only doubled compared to a hundred years ago, but the direct radiation range of Xiangyang had expanded more than five times. This could be seen from the densely packed houses and buildings along the Xiangyang city walls and the Han River, as well as the streets of varying widths but flat and accessible.

After arriving here and stopping for supplies, Fan Zhongyan wanted to get off the boat and feel the prosperity and prosperity of Xiangyang, the worldly life, and relieve his worries. However, this idea was soon dashed.

When the servant presented a pile of visiting cards to Fan Zhongyan, he "shrank back". Hundreds of visiting cards were presented at a time, and each one came from an extraordinary source. They were all high-ranking officials in Jingxi Road, from officials of the Daosi to prefectural governors (due to the difference in the promotion path, the post of governor still existed in the Han Dynasty during the Zhengtong period, but the number was much less than that of court officials). None of them was simple.

They were waiting on the bank, preparing a banquet to welcome them, fulfilling their hospitality as hosts, and also asking Mr. Fan to give some guidance on the political affairs of Jingxi Daozhou.
Fan Zhongyan's route to the north could not be hidden from the eyes of those who were interested. In the current Han court, from the central government to the local levels, there were more than hundreds of people who were paying attention to Fan Zhongyan.

The reason why these powerful bureaucrats were so attentive and respectful was naturally that as he returned to the capital this time, the wind blowing from the center of the empire had already blown across the north and south with the passage of time. Although it had not yet been completely concluded, the possibility of defaulting on the promise was not great. After all, the political principles and rules that the court had formed over dozens or even hundreds of years were not so easy to break.

While flipping through the visiting cards, Fan Zhongyan's expression gradually became serious. Finally, he sighed with regret, put away the visiting cards one by one, asked his servants to get off the boat, and return them to the officials in western Beijing.

Of course, there has to be a preface, probably to say that Fan has just resigned and is under the royal edict, so it is inconvenient for him to stay for long. He is very grateful for the hospitality of the officials in the west of the capital, but it is really inconvenient for him to meet and give guidance, so he asks for forgiveness.

Fan Zhongyan had no intention of meeting not only the general officials, but also the governor of Jingxi Road, Wang Deji. Wang Deji was not an ordinary person, he was the only son-in-law of Cao Wumu Gong (Cao Wei).

The Han Dynasty Cao family, after the rise and development of Cao Bin and Cao Wei, has risen to become one of the top nobles in the empire. Especially after the Yang family fell into decline seven or eight years ago, the status of the Cao family gradually became prominent.

This was marked by the fact that the daughter of Cao was taken into the Eastern Palace and became the Crown Prince's Consort. This was the best match that Emperor Shizong carefully selected for Liu Weizhen from among the nobles. It must be said that in order for Liu Weizhen, the Crown Prince, to succeed to the throne smoothly, Emperor Shizong did a lot of things, both good and bad, in all aspects.

When Liu Weizhen ascended the throne, Cao was successfully promoted to empress. With Empress Cao in the palace and a large number of Cao's relatives and old subordinates outside the palace, even though she was not as powerful as Yang in the past, it was unquestionable that Cao became the first-rank noble in the empire.

Fan Zhongyan politely declined to meet with Wang Deji, the son-in-law of the Cao family. However, there was one person whom he made special instructions to and asked his servant to convey the message secretly.

Not daring to stay any longer, the ship quickly set sail northward, somewhat like a "fleeing in despair". Standing on the side of the ship, Fan Zhongyan could only lean on the railing and secretly observe the scenery along the Han River in Xiangyang.

As they walked further and further away, the people and the scenery slowly disappeared from his sight. Thinking of this, Fan Zhongyan could not help but laugh at himself. He thought that Fan Xiwen had lived an upright, honest and loyal life, but in his old age, he was so scared that he dared not get off the boat in Xiangyang, and still could not escape the words "fame and fortune".

The Han River originates from the Qinling Mountains, gathers many tributaries and flows into the Yangtze River through the west of Beijing and Hubei. The journey north is also a process of tracing the source. After traveling for more than 20 miles, when it turns towards Nanyang, it stops at the Guanghua Town Wharf for a rest.

In Guanghua Town, a world-famous writer was waiting there as agreed. He was Ouyang Xiu, the then magistrate of Fangzhou.

Ouyang Xiu was 41 years old at the time. As a bureaucrat, he was still young, and as a civil official, he had long been famous. The Zhengtong era was not only a springtime for literati, but also an era of remonstrance officials, such as Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, Yu Jing, Yin Zhu, etc., all of whom were known for their outspokenness and courage to remonstrate, especially Ouyang Xiu and Cai Xiang.

Ouyang Xiu, in particular, was successively promoted by famous officials and important ministers such as Yan Shu, Cai Qi, and Du Yan. He easily obtained the halo of the Political Science and Law University and the Jinshi degree, which were longed for but unattainable by students all over the world.

As early as the reign of Emperor Shizong, the young and vigorous Ouyang Xiu had attracted attention for his "Fu on Mount Tai". It was a magnificent article. While those with insight admired his literary talent and writing skills, they were more concerned about some of Ouyang Xiu's obscure comments on Emperor Shizong's Fengshan. This person was really courageous and dared to speak out.
At that time, Ouyang Xiu, who was still studying at the Political Science and Law University, was "fortunately" on the Imperial City Department's key observation list, and thus came into the sight of Emperor Shizong. In other words, Emperor Shizong did not care, and later during his inspection of the University, he specially summoned him, and only then was he truly safe.

After entering the Zhengtong period, Ouyang Xiu once served as a cabinet scholar and imperial edict editor, and stayed in the center of the court for a long time. Whether in politics or literature, he easily reminds people of one person, the famous minister of Kaibao and Yongxi: Wang Yuzhen.

Loyalty, honesty and courage to speak out are their common characteristics. In poetry and prose, Ouyang Xiu continued the legacy of Wang and Liu (Wang Yuzhen and Liu Kai) and further developed it. When he was forty years old, he officially became a leader in the poetry and prose reform movement of the Han Empire, and once again launched an "ancient prose movement" in the imperial literary world.

Ouyang Xiu was very contemptuous and dissatisfied with the frivolous and vulgar style of the Xikun School, just as he could not stand the king's mistakes and the corruption of the powerful. Of course, in terms of personality, he was not as strong-willed as Wang Yuzhen, which also contributed to his fame.

Even so, being demoted for giving advice was common to Ouyang Xiu. He was demoted to Fangzhou at the same time as Fan Zhongyan, just because he spoke up for him and implied that Shangshu Ling Li Zhaoxian was putting personal interests above public interest and starting a party struggle.

It was not surprising that he was demoted. There were many people who spoke for Fan Zhongyan at that time, but Ouyang Xiu's words were the most sharp and went straight to the "core".

This time, when the news of Fan Zhongyan's return to Beijing spread, Ouyang Xiu became interested. After hesitating for a while, he finally risked leaving his post and rushed to Xiangyang, hoping to meet Fan Zhongyan.

After the two met, there was not much conversation. Fan Zhongyan first expressed his attitude that he was burdened by the influence of his reputation. If it were someone else, he would never dare to meet privately, but Ouyang Yongshu was worthy, and he also believed that Ouyang Xiu had no intention of currying favor with him.

Thinking of Ouyang Xiu's great talent in poetry and prose, Fan Zhongyan was delighted and took the initiative to ask about his new work. In response, Ouyang Xiu said with admiration that Fan Gong's "Yueyang Tower Inscription" was famous all over the world, and he did not dare to pick up his pen in the face of such a magnificent work.

While in Hubei, his good friend Teng Zongliang from the same subject governed Yuezhou very effectively, with good government and harmonious people, and was praised by officials and civilians. When Fan Zhongyan heard about it, he went to inspect it in person. After climbing the tower and taking in the magnificent scenery, he still wrote "Yueyang Tower Inscription" with some differences, but the core theme remained the same.

As soon as this article was published, it attracted worldwide attention. Not only were scholars all over the world inspired and excited, but also many people in the court and the public, including the emperor and ministers, were moved by it. The emperor summoned him back to the capital, which was also due to this article.

All in all, Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu only talked for about a quarter of an hour, and Ouyang Xiu's purpose was very clear. He brought a jar of wine, but the jar contained not wine, but a bowl of water.

After drinking, Ouyang Xiu sincerely and solemnly expressed that he knew that Fan Gong would return to Beijing to do something big and would have to go through a lot of hardships. He was moved by his ambition and convinced by his sincerity, so he came to encourage him.

After saying this, he bowed again and did not linger. He took an attendant with him, mounted his horse, whipped it, and headed westwards towards Fangzhou.

Obviously, people like Ouyang Xiu also placed great expectations on Fan Zhongyan's trip, but among the people in the country, those who had such expectations did not know themselves, which made Fan Zhongyan feel heavy.
(End of this chapter)