Chapter 136: A Gentleman Deceives with a Trick

Funing Hall, restaurant.

Zhao Huan sat down in his seat and drank a cup of black tea in gulps. Only then did he feel that his smoking throat was finally redeemed.

The meeting in the back hall was delayed again and again, from ten o'clock to twelve o'clock. If I wasn't so hungry that I couldn't stand it and had to eat lunch, I don't know when it would end.

It's only been over half a month since we last met, and this group of ministers have already accumulated a lot of trivial matters. I wonder what the officials of the two cabinets and the prime minister are doing?

Even though he was extremely depressed, he still had to put on a smile and instruct the Food Bureau to prepare delicious food for the ministers who came to report. What is this called? This is the etiquette that adults should have.

The emperor's lunch is tailored to each person, and the quality and quantity vary. For Li Gang, a military commander among civil servants, the Shangshi Bureau still considers a large amount of food to satisfy his hunger.

Simple four dishes and one soup:

Dongpo pork elbow, royal stir-fried pork, egg and shrimp, mapo tofu and crucian carp and tofu soup.

Zhao Huan invited Li Gang to have dinner together because he wanted to learn about the Qingmiao Law. When mentioning the Qingmiao Law, we have to mention Wang Anshi.

Zhao Huan couldn't help but fall into deep thought. In later generations, no one would not have heard of Wang Anshi's name.

In literature, he is one of the "Eight Great Prose Writers of Tang and Song Dynasties" and a representative figure of Linchuan literature.

The poetry and prose reform movement launched in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty was strongly promoted by him, and contributed to eliminating the remnants of the extravagant style that was popular in the early Song Dynasty.

Wang Anshi's argumentative essays closely linked literary creation with political activities, emphasized that the role of literature is first and foremost to serve society, stressed the practical function and social effect of articles, and advocated the unity of literature and morality.

Wang Anshi's ci poems are "thin, elegant, and simple, completely breaking away from the old customs of the Five Dynasties." When describing objects and expressing his feelings, he often chooses images of vastness, remoteness, and simplicity, creating a world of sentiment unique to scholar-officials.

The poem "Guizhixiang: Nostalgia for the Past in Jinling" is bold and melancholy, which is the forerunner of bold and unrestrained poetry and has had a good influence on the later poetry circles.

Ascending the mountain to gaze out, I see late autumn in my homeland, the weather beginning to chill. A thousand-mile stretch of clear water stretches like a silk thread, peaks clustered in green. Returning boats sail in the setting sun, facing the westerly wind, wine flags slanting upwards. Colorful boats float among the light clouds, egrets rise from the starry sky—a scene too complex to capture in a single painting.

Thinking of the past, a time of prosperity and competition, I sigh outside the gate, a chorus of sorrow and resentment. For centuries, from a high vantage point, they have lamented honor and disgrace. The memories of the Six Dynasties fade away with the flowing water, leaving only the cold mist and withered grass still green. Even today, merchant women often sing the songs left behind in the back garden.

Wang Anshi's poetry can be roughly divided into two stages, with the ninth year of Xining (1076) when he was dismissed from his position as prime minister for the second time. There are obvious differences in content and style.

His early works were mainly about "voicing out when feeling injustice", focusing on social reality and reflecting the suffering of the lower classes. His tendencies were very clear and his style was straightforward and explicit.

After he retired from politics in his later years, his mood gradually became calm, and a large number of landscape poems and poems about objects replaced his early political poems.

His later works were "exhausted and then refined". He devoted himself to the pursuit of poetry art, emphasizing the refinement of ideas and rhetoric. He used words carefully, used allusions sharply, and made exquisite parallelism. His works were implicit, profound, and unforced. With his style of rich spirit and distant rhyme, he created a school of his own in the poetry world at that time, which was known as the "Wang Jinggong style".

An unknown handsome guy once said:

Old Wang is actually quite generous. When he was in the court, he was almost broken by all kinds of troubles, but once he arrived in Nanjing, he basically forgave everyone.

From his later poems, we can see that Wang Anshi is worthy of being a true scholar-official!

Politically, Wang Anshi was a great thinker, reformer, and politician, and his behavior has received mixed reviews from later generations.

Those who admire him regard his ideas as the guiding principle and call him another sage after Confucius; those who belittle him blame him for the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Mr. Lin Yutang's "The Biography of Su Dongpo" is an extreme view that praises Su Shi and criticizes Wang Anshi. He said that Wang Anshi is fame-seeking, narrow-minded, self-willed, and has a poor judgment of people.

Both views have many supporters, and Zhao Huan does not want to comment on them. This is simply because Wang Anshi's death was only forty years ago, and his memorials, poems, and speeches have all been passed down to the world.

In addition, many of his subordinates, friends, descendants, and even political enemies are still alive.

Zhao Huan could have made an objective evaluation by collecting information.

Reforms and changes have always been full of slander, defamation, bloodshed and conflicts, and all kinds of dirty tricks are common. It is indeed very difficult to separate the true from the false.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, if you don't move your chopsticks, I will eat it all!" Li Gang put down the big bone in his hand, completely disregarding his image as a minister.

Zhao Huan's thoughts were disturbed by Li Gang. He lowered his head to look at the dining table. The dish that was full just now was only half left.

The Dongpo pork elbow was eaten cleanly, the Royal Stir-fried Pork Slices were eaten cleanly, leaving only some bell peppers and onions, while the Mapo Tofu and scrambled eggs were still intact.

The portion of today's scrambled eggs was a little small. The chef was so bold that he dared to cut corners!!!

Shangshi Bureau: Your Excellency, this is unfair. We made egg and shrimp, not scrambled eggs!!!

Zhao Huan: How dare you to quibble? Do you mean to say that Li Gang is a picky eater?

Zhao Huan poured the mapo tofu on the rice, and it became a mapo tofu rice bowl with egg, the kind that costs fifteen yuan per serving. It makes me feel sad just thinking about it.

Later I have to clarify with the Shangshi Bureau what amount of food is considered a large amount and enough to fill you up.

"Prime Minister Li, there's something I can't quite figure out. The interest rate for private lending is 100%, while the interest rate for government lending is 20%. How could such a good policy be abolished?"

Li Gang sighed and said slowly, "People would rather disappoint someone they love than betray someone they fear. This is human nature."

Zhao Huan summed it up in one sentence: "A gentleman can be deceived by his tactics!"

Li Gang added: "Jing Gong used his noble character to speculate on the malicious intentions of the officials, and naturally failed miserably."

Zhao Huan bowed to Li Gang and said with a smile, "Thank you! I never thought Li Gang would hold Jing Gong in such high regard. To be able to offer such profound words is far superior to those who only care about slandering him."

"No way! No way!" Li Gang shook his head and refused. "I'm not being modest. I heard this from Yuwen Xuzhong, the Grand Secretary of the Advisory Palace, during a conversation with Cai Jing."

Zhao Huan's face lit up with realization. "If it's Yuwen Xuzhong, then that's entirely consistent. He's never afraid to assume the worst of people."

Li Gang: "Is this a compliment to Yuwen Xuzhong? Why does it feel a little bit different? Never mind, I'll write it down first. Everything I hear is mine."

Zhao Huan: I never thought you were such a Li Gang.