The old doctor was like a mute. He didn't say anything no matter what he was asked. If Zhao Jun hadn't felt the roughness on his hands, he wouldn't have known how old the other person was.
He had been living like this for five days. His injuries had healed a lot, but he still couldn't see.
Zhao Jun almost lost his sense of time and looked very haggard.
“Crunch.”
Hearing the sound of the door opening again today, Zhao Jun suddenly became energetic and said excitedly, "Uncle Lari."
He really wishes there was someone to talk to him.
"Here I am."
Yan Shu came in with food.
Zhao Jun immediately said, "Uncle, I feel much better today. Can you take me for a walk in the village?"
Yan Shu said, "There's no rush. The rain has been a little lighter recently, but it's still raining outside. Going out in the rain is not good for your health."
"But it's uncomfortable to be stuck in the room, and it hurts my eyes."
"That's how it is to take care of your body. There's nothing anyone can do about it."
"Okay, what are we having for dinner today?"
"It's still porridge, but with steamed buns and pork filling."
"That's a good feeling."
Zhao Jun was happy because he finally had some meat to eat.
He fumbled with his hands to take the bowl and buns handed to him by Yan Shu, and said vaguely: "Is the secretary not ready yet?"
"You also said he broke his waist. As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone. A broken waist is not something that can be healed in a day or two."
"That's true."
"By the way, yesterday you talked about Fan Zhongyan's reforms. Keep going."
Yan Shu took the opportunity to speak.
"If you like to hear it, I'll continue. Old Fan is a good person in every way, except that he's too straightforward."
Zhao Jun began to point out Jiang Shan, "Didn't he say that in his "Ode to the Spiritual Crow," that it would be better to die with a cry than to live in silence? As the saying goes, too much rigidity can easily break. If one has a strong character, one can easily get stuck in a rut."
"Hmm."
Yan Shu nodded in agreement. Fan Zhongyan was like that. He had a stubborn temper and couldn't be persuaded.
Zhao Jun continued, "As the saying goes, everything has to be done with a method. Although Old Fan and his men launched the Qingli New Deal for the benefit of the country and the people, their approach was too forceful. This is also related to Old Fan's personality. A slightly more roundabout approach would probably be much better."
"Let's put everything else aside. Just the first few points about clarifying promotions and demotions, suppressing luck, and streamlining the imperial examination system seem like good ideas for changing the current situation of redundant officials. But the problem is that this will directly lead to at least 50% of officials being fired. Furthermore, these layoffs will have to be carried out by those who have lost their jobs. It's like chopping off one's own head with a knife. How is that even possible?"
"So, as soon as these three policies were announced, they were met with resistance from almost 90% of the officials. Those affected by the reduction of favoritism and the stricter examination system began to slander the new policies, accusing Fan Zhongyan and others of being "cliques," which aroused Song Renzong's suspicion. Starting from the highest leadership, Fan Zhongyan gradually lost support."
"Fan Zhongyan's reforms would cause those already in office to lose their positions, deprive those who had been appointed through imperial favor of their families of their paths to advancement, and prevent those who were originally poor academic achievers because the exams were easier from passing. In this way, he would not only offend a single interest group, but all scholars and the entire scholar-official class, as well as their families."
"Uncle Lari, if you wanted to sell the farmland in the village and not leave a cent for the villagers, but instead wanted to use the money to build the village and make it better, do you think the villagers would agree?"
"Of course not."
Yan Shu answered almost without thinking.
"That's it. You wanted to use the money from selling the land to build the village and make the villagers live better, but the villagers formed a profit group. They only wanted money."
Zhao Jun shrugged. "That's the problem of the three redundancies. And there are more than just one or two interest groups involved. If you want to change it, you're going against the entire scholar-official class. You can imagine how difficult it is."
Yan Shu frowned. "Didn't Fan Zhongyan know this was going to happen? Wouldn't he change his strategy?"
"I can't change it. He has that temper."
Zhao Jun gulped down his porridge and added, "Why else would he dare to oppose Lü Yijian? The map of officials directly put Lü Yijian, who was so powerful, in an awkward position. He was dismissed from his position as prime minister in the fourth year of Jingyou."
"A Picture of Hundred Officials?"
Yan Shu's face suddenly turned the color of liver, and he became terrified.
"Yes, it's a picture of the promotion of officials. It says that they were all Lü Yijian's cronies, which led to Fan Zhongyan being attacked by Lü's clique and eventually being demoted to Raozhou."
Zhao Jun responded.
But Yan Shu obviously had no intention of listening any further, so he started running, braving the drizzle, towards the Chuigong Hall.
......
......
"Mr. Fan, I was just about to call you, but you came out on your own."
Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "I plan to let you..."
"His Majesty!"
Fan Zhongyan interrupted him, presented a scroll in his hand, and then raised his imperial tablet and said, "I present this painting."
"oh?"
Zhao Zhen didn't know what Fan Zhongyan was trying to do, and was very puzzled. He said to the eunuch next to him, "Bring it up."
The eunuchs took the scroll, and two eunuchs unfolded it on the left and right, placing the contents of the painting in front of Zhao Zhen.
I saw dozens of officials painted in the scroll, and each official's expressions, movements and demeanor were lifelike and quite vivid.
Zhao Zhen was puzzled and asked, "Mr. Fan, what is this?"
Fan Zhongyan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is a chart showing the order of promotion for officials in the current court. Since Lü Yijian has controlled the important task of appointing officials, he has been nepotistic and forming cliques for personal gain. Even the eunuchs in the harem have spies on him. Anyone who goes against his wishes, even the empress, will be deposed."
As soon as these words were spoken, not only Lu Yijian's face changed suddenly, but even Zhao Zhen was shocked.
However, Fan Zhongyan continued, saying, "Your Majesty should be fully aware of the court's methods of appointing officials, such as the details of punishments and rewards, and the order of promotions and demotions. It is not appropriate to rely entirely on the prime minister."
Lu Yijian's hand holding the court tablet began to tremble.
"His Majesty!"
At this moment, a voice came from outside the door, shouting: "Is Fan Zhongyan here today?"
When he entered the room, he saw a picture in front of Zhao Zhen, Fan Zhongyan standing in the middle reporting on affairs, and Lu Yijian on the right with a dark face. He knew something was wrong.
Yan Shu sat down almost instinctively, muttering to himself, "It's over, it's over. I'm too late. Something terrible has happened!"
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