Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 212 Bao Zheng's Flawless Maneuver

Seeing that the situation was almost to the point where the Song Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, Wang Su, the prefect of Kaifeng, immediately went to report to the chief ministers. The chief ministers chose to bypass Di Qing and Wang Deyong, the two military chief ministers, and instead summoned Wang Yaochen, the deputy chief minister, for a closed-door meeting.

Liu Hang suggested arresting the person immediately, but Wen Yanbo remained calm. After discussing the matter with the chief ministers, he did not arrest the person immediately but instead conducted an investigation and found that the matter was a false accusation and a false alarm.

So the prime ministers discussed it again and wrote a document to execute the false accuser in public, in order to deter those with ill intentions.

Then, the most interesting part came.

After Emperor Renzong regained consciousness, Liu Hang secretly told him that Wen Yanbo had killed someone to silence him after his attempt to stage a palace coup failed.

Clearly, Liu Hang exploited Emperor Renzong's lingering fear that the four soldiers who participated in the "Qingli Palace Coup" more than ten years ago were all killed without leaving any confessions, attempting to incite Emperor Renzong's suspicion towards the other ministers.

The false accusation incident in the first year of the Jiayou era was suspicious from beginning to end.

In fact, the morale of the soldiers in the Forbidden City was indeed unstable during the period when Emperor Renzong was seriously ill. The Imperial City Guard, which was the eyes and ears of the emperor, hardly noticed anything. Was it because they really couldn't notice, or because it had already gotten out of control?

After all, Shi Zhicong served as "Deputy Chief of the Inner Palace," and as the chief eunuch of the Inner Palace Department, he directly managed the daily affairs of the Imperial City Guard, which was independent of the Three Offices. The duties of the Imperial City Guard included opening and closing the palace gates, dispatching the guards, ensuring the safety of the palace, and monitoring the movements of all officials.

So how did Shi Zhicong do it?

Wen Yanbo demanded that Shi Zhicong report on Emperor Renzong's condition to the Secretariat every day. Shi Zhicong initially refused on the grounds that "matters within the palace are strictly confidential." Later, unable to refuse, he not only reported on Emperor Renzong's condition but also handed over the crucial power of deciding to lock the palace gates to the chief ministers.

For the chief ministers, this was certainly a good thing, as it would prevent a military coup. If Emperor Renzong were to die, they could immediately take control of the palace and welcome Zhao Zongshi to the throne.

But what did Emperor Renzong think after he woke up?
In short, the matter is extremely complicated, and Emperor Renzong has already considered dismissing the prime minister.

Fortunately, Wang Yaochen, the Vice Privy Councilor, was shrewd. As a fellow Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) with Wen Yanbo, Han Qi, and Bao Zheng, he secretly reminded Wen Yanbo to have Liu Hang sign the document as well, and to keep the original. Only then was Wen Yanbo able to clear his name.

However, after this incident, Wen Yanbo and Liu Hang have completely broken off their relationship.

Lu Beigu nodded and said respectfully, "This student understands."

After a moment's thought, he asked, "Does my esteemed teacher have any enemies in the imperial court? As a newcomer to this place, I will be extra careful and mindful of my words and actions, lest I inadvertently cause trouble for my esteemed teacher."

Zhao Bian stroked his beard and said frankly, "You are a smart man, so I have nothing to hide from you. As for personal grudges, there are none, but what about public grievances?"

He paused for a moment, then said, "There are two: one is Liu Hang, and the other is Fan Zhen, the Director of the Censorate."

Lu Beigu's face showed a questioning expression: "Oh? May I ask, Master, what is the cause of this public grudge?"

“It’s all because of the duties of the Censorate,” Zhao Bian explained. “Let’s start with the entanglement with Liu Hang. The root of the problem is that he himself is at odds with the Censorate.”

"Why is that?" Lu Beigu pressed.

"Back then, when he presided over the funeral of Empress Wencheng (Consort Zhang), his behavior was not discreet enough, and he was ridiculed by the people as 'Liu the Bent'—in the marketplace, a coffin seller is called 'bent,' implying that he profited from it. This matter caused a great uproar, and the Censorate, being in its duty, naturally launched a joint impeachment." Zhao Bian sighed and continued, "How could Liu Hang be a man who would swallow his anger? This year, when Privy Councilor Di Qing was dismissed from office due to the impeachment by the censors, he seized the opportunity to submit a memorial to the Emperor, saying that 'the censors are forming cliques in private, using their power to dismiss Your Majesty's generals and ministers, weakening Your Majesty's henchmen, and there may be unpredictable conspiracies.' The latter half of those words truly struck at the Emperor's heart at the time."

"Such accusations carry considerable weight," Lu Beigu said knowingly.

“Exactly. How could we sit idly by when such a serious accusation has been leveled against us? At that time, the Imperial Censor Zhang Bian and the Supervising Censor Fan Shidao, together with me, submitted seventeen memorials to refute it. Now, Liu Hang is about to be dismissed from his post as prime minister because of the false accusation.”

Zhao Bian spoke calmly, without a hint of smugness, clearly indicating that there were some things he hadn't elaborated on.

So, what's the cost?
Even if a prime minister is impeached, the Censorate will not escape unscathed.

"What about the conflict with Fan Jianyuan?" Lu Beigu continued to ask.

"There are two reasons for the discord with Fan Zhen," Zhao Bian explained clearly. "First, the Censorate and the Remonstrance Bureau are both channels for expressing opinions and have similar functions. This 'conflict between the Censorate and the Remonstrance Bureau' is a matter of course and is naturally prone to friction. Second, Fan Shidao and his teacher had impeached Fan Zhen for currying favor with the former prime minister Chen Zhizhong."

As the saying goes, hatred extends to the house and its crows; after Chen Zhizhong retired, his influence waned, and those who were close to him inevitably faced retribution.

Fan Zhen was indeed promoted by Chen Zhizhong and Pang Ji, and his situation was no different from Wang Kui's in terms of the reasons.

"However, Fan Zhen is a man of quite good character and conduct." Zhao Bian's tone carried a hint of fairness. "Or rather, those who can hold their positions as censors are not of bad character. Whether out of their own conscience or for the sake of their position, the most important thing for a censor is to be impeccable."

This is true.

Avoid being greedy for wealth and be cautious in forming cliques; these are all to avoid being labeled as corrupt and forming factions.

Once tainted with such a stigma, the very foundation of an official's standing as a censor is destroyed. Everything they say and do will be seen as taking money to advocate for others or speaking out for the private interests of their cronies, and no one will believe them anymore.

Bao Zheng is actually the most typical example of this.

The reason why Bao Zheng's impeachments were so successful was that he truly maintained his integrity, leaving no room for others to find any fault with him; he was completely flawless.

How flawless was it?

At least Zhao Bian still had normal interpersonal interactions, while Bao Zheng not only did not interact with others and not accept any private letters, but he also cut off all contact with his relatives. He was even more frugal in his clothing, food, housing and transportation than ordinary people.

In the Song Dynasty's imperial court, there were many who impeached Bao Zheng for forming a faction with Wen Yanbo and Han Qi, claiming that Bao Zheng was attacking their enemies in the court on their behalf.

But it was useless because there was no evidence.

Normally, Bao Zheng would never have any private contact with Wen Yanbo and Han Qi outside of official business. He would even avoid official contact as much as possible. If it was unavoidable, he would leave the door wide open and talk to them in front of everyone.

A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. Bao Zheng's behavior was undoubtedly that of an upright and virtuous man, and there's nothing more to say about that.

(End of this chapter)