Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 312 "Some People"!
Fan Chunren persuaded Su Shi to stop, then bowed to Empress Dowager Gao and said, "Empress Dowager, both the emperor and Mr. Cheng are at fault for what happened today, but it's good to talk about it now, and there's no need to pursue it further..."

Cheng Yi interrupted Fan Chunren and said, "I am a minister. How can I ask you to admit your mistakes? As for today's incident, I will just treat it as my fault.

but……"

Cheng Yi glanced at the crowd and said, "If the court allows Su Yun to spread his heretical theories that seduce people, I'm afraid the Xining incident will happen again!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's expression suddenly changed.

The so-called Xining events naturally refer to Wang Anshi's reforms. All those present were from the old party. During the Xining and Yuanfeng years, they were all excluded and sent to local areas. In their view, it was a tragic memory that the court was full of treacherous villains and all the upright people were expelled from local areas!
When Su Shi heard this, his face turned pale, because he knew that this was a matter of life and death for his nephew Su Yun. If he could not help Ju Zheng correct the situation today, then his future might be ruined!

Su Shi said angrily, "Cheng Yi, you are slandering me. How can Su Yun's theory be regarded as heresy? Do you have any evidence?"

Cheng Yi sneered and said, "Now what Su Yun said in the Imperial College has spread throughout the entire Bianjing City. What evidence do you need? Those are the evidence!"

When Su Shi heard this, he immediately felt relieved. Since Cheng Yi did not have comprehensive evidence, there was still a chance to salvage today's incident. If Cheng Yi came prepared, it would be difficult to deal with.

Su Shi and Empress Dowager Gao bowed and said, "Empress Dowager, I know my nephew Su Yun best. His political views are not the same as those of the New Law Party. On the contrary, I and my younger brother Su Zhe were responsible for his enlightenment. His political views are actually closer to ours. Therefore, it is impossible that he is a reformer."

Empress Dowager Gao's expression eased slightly.

Cheng Yi sneered and said, "Who is his father-in-law? It's Zhang Dun. If his political views are different, would Zhang Dun accept him as his son-in-law?"

Su Shi laughed when he heard this and said, "Gentlemen are harmonious but different. It is common for children to be in-laws. What does this have to do with political views? You are a master of classics, but you are also imitating the gossips of a foolish woman in the market?"

After being stabbed by Su Shi, Cheng Yi's face turned red again.

Su Shi continued to say to Empress Dowager Gao: "It depends on Su Yun's inclination. Your Majesty can ask the students to collect Su Yun's lecture notes and then we can know the difference. It is also to open up the channels for people to express their opinions. Otherwise, it is easy to be deceived by villains."

Cheng Yi was ridiculed by Su Shi as a villain, but now he didn't want to refute it. His words had already been said. Based on his understanding of Empress Dowager Gao, this matter had already left a thorn in her heart. Even if Su Shi said anything, he could not avoid Empress Dowager Gao's suspicion.

As expected, Empress Dowager Gao looked at Lü Gongzhu and Fan Chunren with an uncertain expression and asked, "What do Prime Minister Lü and Privy Councilor Fan think?"

Lu Gongzhu was a kind-hearted man who had always been taciturn. After he came in today, he didn't say much. It was basically Fan Chunren and Su Shi who did all the talking.

Seeing the Queen Mother asking, Lu Gongzhuo thought for a moment and said, "I have heard of Su Juzheng for a long time, but I have had little contact with him. However, I have read his Annotated Commentaries on the Four Books. There are some shocking words in it, but there is nothing taboo.

I have heard a lot about the legend of Su Juzheng. He is aggressive in doing things, but also quite steady. I have never heard that Su Juzheng participated in the reform.

He initially served as a judge in Kaifeng Prefecture, in charge of people's livelihood affairs. Later, he went to the northwest, but was only focused on fighting against the Western Xia. He had nothing to do with new laws such as the Qingmiao Law and the Exemption from Labor Law.

The reason why people thought he was involved with the New Law Party was that, first, he married Zhang Dun's daughter, and second, he was promoted quickly when the New Party was in power, so that people thought he was a member of the New Party.

In my opinion, Su Yun is extremely talented and is a capable minister who can govern the country well. It would be a waste of talent if he were excluded from government affairs because of some suspicion.

Therefore, I dare to give him a practical assignment, at least let him do government affairs. After all, he is still young and it is time for him to learn things. If he is put aside and not allowed to get involved in government affairs, then although he is talented, he will waste his time. "

Su Shi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was worth it that Lu Gongzhu spoke up for Su Yun every time he wrote to Lu Gongzhu when he was in Huangzhou to promote Su Yun's reputation.

After all, Lu Gongzhu was the prime minister. When he said this, Empress Dowager Gao's expression eased again. She nodded and said, "Prime Minister Lu is right. In this case, is there anything you can ask Su Yun to do?"

When asked by Empress Dowager Gao, Lu Gongzhu frowned immediately. For a moment, he didn't know how to arrange the job. It's not that there were no suitable positions, but the situation was quite sensitive at the moment.

Otherwise, with Su Yun's current qualifications, he could have held any of the positions, whether it be the Minister of the Six Ministries, Privy Councilor, Deputy Privy Councilor, Governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, Chief Censor, or even the Assistant Official of the Three Ministries.

But the key is to understand what Empress Dowager Gao is thinking. Even though Empress Dowager Gao is asking Su Yun what assignment he can do, if she recommends an important position, firstly, it will not be accepted, and secondly, she will be envied, which will be a loss.

Lu Gongzhu thought for a moment and said, "Please let me think about this matter. At the moment, I am also unable to make a decision."

At this time, Su Shi suddenly said: "Why not let Su Yun go to the Privy Council? Ju Zheng understands military affairs and is good at commanding troops. With him in the Privy Council, the Privy Council can also make improvements in this area.

Originally, the chief and assistant officers of the Privy Council were all people who knew military affairs, but later on, most of them were civilian officials who did not know military affairs. Now the authority of the Privy Council is not as strong as before. If Ju Zheng were to go there, he might be able to restore the authority of the Privy Council. "

After Su Shi said this, the expressions of Lu Gongzhu and others became subtle.

Su Yun is naturally qualified to be a deputy privy councilor in the Privy Council, or even a privy councilor.

However, Su Yun returned to the court from the northwest because he wanted to make peace with Western Xia.

The Xixia people were afraid of Su Yun, so the Song Dynasty took the opportunity to transfer him back. Now Su Yun was in charge of military affairs. Hehe. Su Shi looked at the expressions of the crowd and immediately said: "If the Privy Council is not feasible, it is better to grant him the position of Chief Censor.

When Ju Zheng was the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, he was good at investigating corruption. Under his leadership, all the officials in the left and right halls of Kaifeng Prefecture were taken down, and the warehouse affairs were also greatly cleaned up.

If he were to become the Chief Censor, the atmosphere in the court would undergo a major change, which would be a very good thing!"

As soon as these words came out, Lu Gongzhu smiled bitterly, thinking, are you in the mood to make a good suggestion? The court is in turmoil now, if there is another person like this who is willing to make trouble, there will be no peace. I think it is better for you not to make any suggestions.

Su Shi looked at everyone's expressions and was stunned: "This won't work, that won't work, then what will work?"

Fan Chunren coughed slightly and said, "Master Su, let's discuss this later. There will always be a suitable one."

Zhao Xu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly asked, "Can we let Scholar Su come to be my lecturer?"

Zhao Xu suddenly spoke, and Empress Dowager Gao suddenly turned her head to look at him. Zhao Xu lowered his head in fear when he saw the look from Empress Dowager Gao.

Zhao Xu could only feel his heart pounding, but when he remembered his father's instructions before his death, he plucked up his courage.

Cheng Yi's expression next to him suddenly changed. He suddenly felt that what he was worried about was about to happen.

Lu Gongzhu and others immediately held their breath.

The Empress Dowager Gao looked gentle and said slowly, "Your Majesty, why do you want Scholar Su to be your tutor? But what did someone tell you?"

As Empress Dowager Gao spoke, she stared closely at Zhao Xu's expression.

Zhao Xu shook his head and said, "Grandmother, no one has told me this, but I read Scholar Su's Annotations to Mencius, and he made a very precise statement about the idea that the people are more important than the ruler.

I have often heard my grandmother worry about the people of the world, so I have a good understanding of this. Therefore, I think if the young scholar Su were to be the lecturer, he would definitely be able to give a very interesting lecture. "

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Gao was immediately delighted. She thought that by finding so many tutors and advising them on a daily basis, she had finally made Zhao Xu know the importance of cherishing the people's strength. In this way, he might be different from his father in the future.

But she still had some doubts, so she asked, "Oh, how did Scholar Su explain this saying that the people are more important than the emperor?"

Zhao Xu had really read Su Yun's book carefully. Hearing this, he paused for a moment and then spoke fluently: "Mr. Su explained a lot in the Annotations to Mencius. I didn't quite understand it, but Mr. Su wrote something at the end, and I understood it all at once."

Empress Dowager Gao said "Oh" and was very interested. She came from a prominent family. Her great-grandfather was Gao Qiong, a famous general in the early Song Dynasty. Her mother was the granddaughter of Cao Bin, a founding hero of the Northern Song Dynasty, and her aunt was Empress Cao of Emperor Renzong.

She was adopted into the palace when she was four years old and was treated as her own daughter by Empress Cao. Therefore, she had an excellent educational environment since childhood and also learned the classics.

So she knew that the meaning of the scriptures was difficult, and sometimes it was not easy to explain it clearly, especially for a ten-year-old child.

If the importance of the people over the king can be clearly explained in one sentence so that a ten-year-old child can understand it, it is indeed remarkable.

Hearing Empress Dowager Gao's question, Zhao Xu quickly said, "This is what it says:

Some people are dead while they are alive; some people are still alive while they are dead.

Some people ride on the people's heads: "Oh, how great I am!" Some people bow down and serve the people like cattle and horses.

Some people carve their names into stones, hoping to achieve immortality; some people would rather be weeds, waiting to be burned by the underground fire.

Some people live so that others cannot live; some people live so that the majority of people can live better.

The people who ride on the people's heads will throw him down; the people who work like beasts of burden for the people will remember him forever!

The name carved into the stone will rot earlier than the corpse; wherever the spring breeze blows, there will be green weeds everywhere.

The fate of a man who cannot live without his life, can be seen;
He lives for the majority to live better, and the masses hold him very high, very high! "

Zhao Xu recited aloud in one breath the poem "Some People" which Su Yun had copied from Zang Kejia of later generations. This poem was very much to Zhao Xu's liking, so he recited it very fluently.

After Zhao Xu finished reading, he looked at everyone. Everyone's expressions were quite strange, and he immediately became worried again.

But after a while, Fan Chunren suddenly sighed: "Su Juzheng is indeed worthy of being called the Little Suxian. He can explain the theory of "people are more important than the emperor" so precisely in such plain words. Amazing, amazing!"

(End of this chapter)