Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 106: So smart!

After Su Yun finished his meal and returned to his room, he did not take a nap. Instead, he went into the study and continued writing The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. After all, as a writer, there was no time for sleeping.

I went back to my room and wrote a while. Just as I was about to review it, I heard someone coming over.

Su Yun listened to the footsteps and then smiled: Here they come.

Su Yun wrote "On the Political Gains and Losses of the Han, Tang and Song Dynasties" not for the purpose of writing "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Romance of the Three Kingdoms did not need such detailed research.

Among all the officials in the current court, the only one Su Yun likes is Zhang Dun.

In Su Yun's opinion, when it comes to governing the country, among all the prime ministers in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, there is no one better than Zhang Dun.

Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Wang Anshi, and Sima Guang were all just younger brothers in front of Zhang Dun.

As for why Zhang Dun was demoted to a traitor, Su Yun also has some opinions of his own.

One reason is that Zhang Dun presided over the reform after Wang Anshi, and Wang Anshi’s reforms have always been despised and disdained by the mainstream social thought.

These thoughts were dominated by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which emphasized governing the country through morality and despised practical operations such as law, finance and economics.

Guided by this kind of thinking, history books are more likely to blame the decline of the dynasty on the reforms and those who advocated and supported the reforms.

Secondly, the country fell into crisis after the Jingkang Incident. The Song Dynasty moved south and the court needed to find a scapegoat to shoulder historical responsibilities.

Song Gaozong pushed the blame onto Cai Jing and Wang Anshi, portraying them as sinners of the country.

Therefore, people like Zhang Dun who promoted reforms were naturally regarded as treacherous ministers who harmed the country and became the target of public criticism.

Another very interesting thing is that since the establishment of "Biographies of Traitorous Ministers" in the official history, there have only been treacherous ministers but no incompetent rulers or tyrants in Chinese history.

There is no doubt that the so-called "treacherous ministers" became scapegoats for incompetent and tyrannical rulers.

However, for a great figure like Wang Anshi, although he was very famous, he was not included in the "Biographies of Traitorous Ministers" perhaps because his policies and style were too unique.

However, for Cai Que, Lu Huiqing, Zhang Dun and others, they could easily become scapegoats.

These people may have had some problems politically, or their reputations were not very good, so they were used to bear the blame for the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty.

As for some people who want to use Zhang Dun's persecution of Sima Guang and Su Shi to prove that Zhang Dun was a traitor, Liang Qichao made this matter very clear.

Liang Qichao's speech was quite long, but the gist of it was: Zhang Dun was simply doing to the old party what the old party had done to them.

Therefore, Su Yun just thought that Zhang Dun was too powerful, and if he offended him, he would inevitably suffer severe punishment. In fact, he did not think that Zhang Dun was a bad person or a treacherous minister.

Therefore, Su Yun wanted to take advantage of the fact that Su Shi and Zhang Dun were still in contact to convey some things that would help the new law.

What Su Yun wrote was actually quite targeted:

Writing about the power of the emperor and the power of the prime minister is to tell Zhang Dun to take the initiative;
The author wrote about the power struggle between the central government and local governments in order to have Zhang Dun rectify the bureaucracy so that the policies could be implemented.
As for the tax comparison, it made Zhang Dun see it more clearly;
As for military matters, he also wanted to tell Zhang Dun and other new party members the direction of military reform.

Su Yun had no other thoughts. He just thought that people like Zhang Dun were very good to the country and the people. He knew some things, so he just helped.

Originally he wanted to convey the message through Su Shi, but he didn't expect Zhang Dun to come.

He was thinking of handing it to Zhang Dun in private, but Zhang Ru saw it first, so he just went with the flow and sent it over.

Since Zhang Ruo came over so quickly, it must be that Zhang Dun had already seen it and was probably touched.

Very good. "Brother Yun, are you there?"

Zhang Ruo said outside the door.

Su Yun stood up and opened the door, smiling, "Sister Ruo, you're here?"

Zhang Ruo slightly raised her head and looked at Su Yun. Although it was not the first time they met, her heart still felt like it was hit hard. Her heartbeat stopped for a few beats. She suppressed her pounding heart and smiled, "Can you let me in to talk?"

Su Yun quickly moved out of the way.

Zhang Ruo walked past Su Yun, then turned around and closed the door.

Su Yun's heart skipped a beat and he asked in surprise, "Sister Aruo, why are you closing the door?"

Zhang Ruo rolled her eyes at Su Yun and said, "If you don't keep a few things secret, it will lead to harm. How can you leave such an important thing lying around?"

Zhang Ruo handed the manuscript to Su Yun and said, "Burn it."

Su Yun nodded and said, "Few people come into my study room, and it is placed with so many manuscripts, so generally no one will see it. But Sister Aruo, you are right, so let's burn it."

As he said this, he took the manuscript to the brazier, lit it on fire and threw it into the brazier. The booklet was thin and soon turned into ashes. Then Su Yun opened the door to let in some fresh air.

Zhang Ruo sighed and said, "Don't talk about the above content in the future. If someone with ulterior motives hears it, it will inevitably cause trouble."

Su Yun followed suit and said with a smile, "I understand."

Zhang Ruo was a little curious and asked, "Why don't you ask my father if he has seen it and what he thought of it after watching it?"

Su Yun smiled and said, "These are just some superficial opinions, not worthy of Uncle Zhang's further comments."

Zhang Ruo said: "You have such talent, why don't you want to enter the official career?"

When talking to Zhang Ruo, Su Yun naturally had a set of rhetoric, saying: "The official career is dangerous. I have seen everything my uncle went through. I am already daunted and dare not venture into it.

I am very satisfied with my current life. I read books, write novels, reclaim land, and build a big tiled house. When the wasteland is ready for cultivation, I will plant a few acres of peach trees and pick peach blossoms to buy wine. Isn't that a very happy life?"

Zhang Ruo nodded and said, "Since you know that the official career is dangerous, why did you write this to my father?"

Su Yun smiled and said, "It was just a coincidence."

Zhang Ruo glanced at Su Yun and said, "Even if I wasn't the reckless one, and sent this thing to my father, this thing would be given to my father, right?"

Su Yun was surprised and asked, "Where did Sister Aruo come from?"

Zhang Ruo said quietly, "Among Uncle Su's good friends, most are ministers who are against the reform. My father is the only one who supports the new law. In what you wrote, there is no mention of the reform, but every word is related to the new law.

So, if this thing is not prepared for my father, then who is it prepared for? It can't be prepared for Uncle Su, right?"

Su Yun looked at Zhang Ruo in surprise. This woman was so smart that she discovered his plan so quickly.

Since the other party was a smart man, Su Yun no longer concealed anything and said sincerely: "Your father is someone I admire very much. The new law also has many fallacies. If I point them out directly, it will inevitably be regarded as criticizing the new law.

Therefore, I have written so many things and tried to find a way to give them to your father. If they are of some use, that would be great. If not, that is fine too. "

(End of this chapter)