vrcanaries Chapter 77 Emperor Shenzong of Song—Cai Que
Chapter 77 Emperor Shenzong of Song—Cai Que
"Alright, next let's talk about Emperor Zhezong of Song, Zhao Xu. To be honest, among the eighteen emperors of the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, you could count the number of those who did a good job on one hand."
"Emperor Zhezong of Song, whom we will be discussing today, is one of them."
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty was struck in the heart again: ...
"Emperor Zhezong of Song, Zhao Xu, was the sixth child of Emperor Shenzong of Song. His reign can be divided into two phases, before and after he assumed personal rule."
"Let's start with his time before he assumed personal rule. When the previous emperor, his father Emperor Shenzong of Song, passed away, Zhao Xu was only ten years old. According to custom, the burden of governing the country first fell on the shoulders of the Grand Empress Dowager Gao."
"However, Lady Gao has lived in the inner palace for a long time and is not familiar with the affairs of the previous dynasty, so she needs to select ministers who are familiar with and reliable to assist her in governing."
"Next up is Sima Guang, the old minister famous for 'smashing the water jar'."
Sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty: ...
"Let's first go back to the fifth year of the Yuanfeng era of Emperor Shenzong of Song. Emperor Shenzong, who had just implemented the Yuanfeng reforms, had long wanted to recall Sima Guang to serve as Imperial Censor."
"On this basis, he hoped to use the new official system to reconcile the contradictions between the old and new officials and mend the political rift."
"Although this idea was rejected by the chief ministers Wang Gui and Cai Que, it still couldn't stop him from wanting to summon Sima Guang to the capital to meet the emperor thirty months later."
"First of all, Sima Guang's loyalty is beyond question. He was able to spend over ten years in a cellar in Luoyang compiling the *Zizhi Tongjian*, which shows he was no ordinary person."
"Just speaking of the old and new parties, for example, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang disagreed on political views in the court. You said I was stubborn and incomprehensible, and I said you were a treacherous villain, but as soon as Sima Guang was impeached, Wang Anshi immediately spoke up for him."
Therefore, the relationship between the old and new factions during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song was not so bad and was still within a controllable range.
Wang Anshi (Old Wang himself): Sima's character is beyond reproach.
……
The third year of the Xining reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song
Emperor Zhao Xu was extremely excited after promoting Wang Anshi to the position of prime minister, and he couldn't help but hope that this new law would bring about a different kind of change to the Song Dynasty!
Just after he finished his court session, he discovered that the small square screen he had placed aside had started displaying images.
Upon hearing what Lin Ke said, Zhao Xu's eyes lit up. "Hey, she's talking about me this time!"
I must hear this, so I immediately summoned the eunuchs to bring Wang Anshi and others into the palace to listen in.
……
"However, after Wang Qishan was dismissed from his post as prime minister, the political struggles of the Yuanfeng era gradually spiraled out of control."
"In particular, Cai Que, who opposed Sima Guang's return, was also a key figure in the rise of numerous political persecutions during this period."
“Cai Que, courtesy name Chizheng, was a native of Quanzhou, Fujian. He was born in the fourth year of the Jingyou reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, the first benevolent ruler in history, and passed the imperial examination in the fourth year of the Jiayou reign in his later years.”
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: Just how benevolent must one be to be given this name!?
Zhang Fei from the Three Kingdoms: I'd like to know too. My elder brother is definitely no less benevolent than him!
Liu Bei of the Three Kingdoms: Third brother... don't talk nonsense!
Emperor Zhao Zhen, the greatest benevolent ruler of all time: ...
"To be honest, Cai Que didn't have a very good life in his early years."
Historical records state that his father, Cai Huangshang, was upright and honest. Perhaps for this reason, his marriage was delayed for a long time before he could marry and have children. He could only support his family with his meager salary, so Cai Que must have had a rather poor childhood.
"Unexpectedly, after Prime Minister Chen Zhizhong was transferred to Chenzhou, he saw that Cai Huangshang, an old man in his seventies, was still serving as a low-level official and found him extremely distasteful. He then forced him to retire, which made an already impoverished family even poorer."
"Cai Huangshang himself died in poverty and despair, and before his death, he instructed the young Cai Que not to forget his hatred for Chen Zhizhong."
"Unfortunately, when Cai Que took office, Chen Zhizhong had already passed away. As the saying goes, the son pays for the father's debts, so he transferred his hatred to Chen Zhizhong's son, Chen Shiru."
Chen Shiru: Damn it, this has nothing to do with me!
Young Cai Que: Revenge!
Zhang: Damn, you're so filial!
"However, you can't blame Chen Shiru for being unlucky; neither he nor his son are good people."
"It is said that Chen Zhizhong had a beloved concubine who bore him a son, Chen Shiru, so he doted on Zhang Shi even more, without any regard for principles."
"As a result, Zhang had a maid named Ying'er, whom she cruelly tortured to death. Chen Zhizhong was impeached and dismissed from his post as prime minister, and Zhang was forced to become a nun after his death."
"After Chen Shiru grew up, the court allowed him to bring his birth mother, Zhang, back home. However, Zhang remained the same Zhang, still with a terrible temper, and her relationship with Chen Shiru's wife, Li, and the maids in the household was strained."
"Throughout history, conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law have always been difficult to resolve. As time went on, their conflict worsened, and Li, in a moment of desperation, instigated her maid to poison Zhang."
"And guess what? Zhang's vitality was truly as tenacious as a cockroach; even after drinking poison, she didn't die. A maid simply drove an iron nail into Zhang's skull, sending her to meet Ying'er."
A Qin general: My goodness! It seems women really are not to be trifled with!
A dashing and talented scholar from the Tang Dynasty: Damn! That's terrifying! I guess I'd better tone it down!
A Ming Dynasty soldier said: "People who aren't family don't enter the same door."
"Chen Shiru was initially unaware of the situation, but after discovering the truth, he chose to protect his wife. However, the truth could not be hidden forever, and the imperial court eventually found out."
"According to Song Dynasty law, murdering one's parents was one of the ten unpardonable crimes, and the presiding judge, Su Song, eventually revealed the truth to Emperor Shenzong of Song."
"Emperor Shenzong of Song, wanting to ensure Chen Zhizhong had an heir, considered sparing his life. At this point, Cai Que stepped forward and stated that the Song Dynasty governed the country based on filial piety, and this could not be pardoned. Therefore, all those involved in the case were sentenced to beheading."
"Before this, Chen Zhizhong and Lü Yijian were related by marriage, so the Chen family had tried to use their connections to get Lü Yijian's son, Lü Gongzhe, involved in the case. Although he refused, many members of the Lü family tried to sabotage Chen Shiru."
"The Lü family had always opposed the new laws, which gave their political enemies ammunition, leading to the arrest and imprisonment of many members of the Lü family, including the former presiding judge, Su Song."
"Someone filed a lawsuit hoping he would accuse Lü Gongzhe of manipulating the judiciary, which he strongly refused. In the end, no evidence was found, and Emperor Shenzong punished the investigators before releasing Lü Gongzhe and others."
"The Dali Temple officials involved in this case, such as Cui Taifu, are considered notorious cruel officials during the Yuanfeng era, and one of their backers was Cai Que, who was settling a personal score in this case."
A Ming Dynasty soldier: What terrifying political struggles! No wonder they say scholars are full of cunning!
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: We scholars shouldn't take the blame for this.
"Cai Que had a reputation for corruption and bribery during his early years as a local official, but because of his exceptional abilities, the leaders he encountered repeatedly promoted him."
In the fourth year of the Xining era, he caught the attention of Emperor Zhao Xu by publicly protesting the bad habit of subordinates kneeling before their superiors in the Kaifeng government offices, and was thus appointed as an imperial censor, entering the core circle of the New Party.
"For example, famous ministers and generals such as Guo Kui, Wang Shao, Xiong Ben, and Shen Kuo, regardless of whether they belonged to the old or new political parties, were all impeached by him."
"At this time, one could say that Cai Que dared to speak out and was not afraid of powerful figures, but in the sixth year of the Xining era, he became somewhat abnormal."
"That year, natural disasters were frequent. Wang Anshi, as usual, rode to work on horseback. However, when he entered the main gate of the palace, he was reprimanded by the guards and ordered to dismount for violating etiquette."
"I have to say, Old Wang is quite stubborn. Faced with the guard's strong reprimand, Old Wang refused to listen. 'I've been riding this for so many years, do you think I don't know whether it's against the rules or not?'"
"I never expected this guard to be so resourceful. Without even a word, he directly injured Old King's mount."
Ma: Damn it, who will speak up for me!?
"After the incident, Old Wang suspected someone was behind it all, so he sent the guard to Kaifeng Prefecture. However, the Kaifeng Prefecture investigation found Old Wang innocent, but the guard was at fault. They even punished Ruan Rui, a close aide who had no connection to the matter, with caning."
"However, Cai Que expressed his doubts about this matter. He believed that the guards had done nothing wrong, that Old Wang had violated etiquette, and that the Kaifeng Prefecture was punishing innocent guards to curry favor with the prime minister. These people deserved to be punished!"
"After receiving Cai Que's memorial, Emperor Shenzong did not discuss whether the old king should be dismissed, but accepted the suggestion to punish Kaifeng Prefecture."
"I wonder if Wang Anshi riding a donkey after retirement has anything to do with this." Lin Ke chuckled as she said this, finding it rather amusing. Haha, Wang Anshi riding a donkey!
"The History of Song believes that Cai did indeed see the conflict between the old king and Emperor Shenzong, and used this to show his loyalty to Emperor Shenzong. Of course, some people also believe that he was simply trying to demonstrate his impartiality."
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: Having too many civil officials is a real pain; you can easily fall into their traps if you're not careful!
Everyone in the Song Dynasty: ...