If the four of them kept silent as they were now, they would gain nothing and their reputations would be impossible to restore.
But if they shout slogans of reform, it will be different, and there will be people supporting them.
If the reform succeeds, the reputation of the four of them will improve; if the reform fails, their reputation will not necessarily become worse than it is now.
And even if the reform failed, there were still people with good reputations, such as Fan Zhongyan.
Fan Wencheng's reputation among the literati is really high, and there is no black spot when talking about him.
The phrase "Worry about the world before you worry about yourself, and be happy about the world after you are happy about yourself" made Fan Wencheng famous.
Sun Chengzong glanced at the three of them, then said, "What Elder Xu said makes sense. It depends on your majesty's opinion."
Initiating a reform is difficult, but the biggest obstacle is your Majesty's attitude. Will your Majesty's retreat lead to the failure of the reform?
If this were true, the four of them would probably not have a good ending. For example, Wang Anshi, who currently has a bad reputation among scholars.
"Your Majesty is not Song Renzong, and the Ming Dynasty is not the Song Dynasty." At this time, Han Yu's voice was full of determination.
He played the final role in the decision. The other three did not say anything, obviously agreeing with his words.
Naturally, several people are very familiar with this period of history.
In the third year of the Qingli period, Zhao Zhen appointed Fan Zhongyan as Vice Prime Minister, and promoted Ouyang Xiu, Yu Jing, Wang Su and Cai Xiang as censors (commonly known as the "Four censors"), determined to make progress.
In September, under the order of Zhao Zhen, Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi put forward ten reform proposals: "clear promotion and demotion, suppress luck, refine the imperial examination, select officials, equalize public land, encourage agriculture and sericulture, improve military preparations, reduce corvee labor, encourage grace and trust, and emphasize orders."
Ouyang Xiu and others also submitted memorials to the emperor, most of which were adopted by Zhao Zhen. They were gradually promulgated and implemented throughout the country.
Because the new policy violated the interests of the aristocratic bureaucracy, it was obstructed by them.
At the beginning of the fifth year of the Qingli period, Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fu Bi, Ouyang Xiu and others were successively expelled from the court, various reforms were abolished, and the new policies completely failed.
This period of history is known as the Qingli New Deal.
Han Yu's words were very clear. The current Majesty is not Song Renzong, and the current Ming Dynasty is not the Song Dynasty of that time, so there is no need to worry that His Majesty will become like Song Renzong, nor do they need to worry that they will suffer the same fate as Fan Zhongyan.
They all knew what happened to Fan Zhongyan. He was manipulated by people in the court and eventually died in office.
This is a kind of invisible means of harming people in the officialdom. That is, not allowing you to return to Beijing, not knowing that you are an official in a stable place, but letting you move back and forth, today you are in Shandong, tomorrow you are asked to go to Jiangnan, and the day after tomorrow you are asked to go to Hu Guang.
The distances in those days were long and difficult to travel, not to mention the elderly ministers, who would have died after a few trips back and forth.
After the four of them reached a tacit understanding in their hearts, they did not say anything else, and they also tacitly did not mention Zhang Juzheng.
In fact, the reason is very simple. His Majesty is not Emperor Wanli, and they are not Zhang Juzheng.
After taking a few steps forward, Xu Guangqi suddenly said, "It seems like it's been a while since Zhang Juzheng was rehabilitated. Now that he's been rehabilitated, shouldn't we do something about it?"
Han Yu and the other two were stunned, and then they understood why Xu Guangqi said that.
Huang Kezun clapped his hands and said, "Yes! Find Zhang Juzheng's descendants and give them the rewards they deserve. At the same time, we should build a temple to commemorate him so that future generations will know about Zhang Juzheng's merits. Also, his posthumous title is inappropriate. Let's decide on a new one."
All four of them knew that Zhang Juzheng was posthumously named "Wen Zhong." However, considering Zhang Juzheng's contributions, this posthumous title was a bit too light, and everyone knew why.
On the fourth day after Zhang Juzheng's death, seven censors including the censor Lei Shizhen impeached Pan Sheng, and Emperor Shenzong ordered Pan to retire.
Pan Sheng had been recommended by Zhang Juzheng during his lifetime, and his dismissal marked Zhang Juzheng's fall from grace. Censors also pointed the finger at Zhang Juzheng.
Emperor Shenzong then ordered the confiscation of her property, stripped her of all her palace rank, and confiscated the imperial seals and imperial edicts granted to her during her lifetime, making her crimes known to the world.
Moreover, Zhang Juzheng was almost exhumed and his body was whipped, and his family members either starved to death or were exiled.
Some of the officials employed by Zhang Juzheng during his lifetime were demoted, and some were executed.
This time, the rehabilitation will definitely not only be for Zhang Juzheng, but all the officials implicated along with Zhang Juzheng will also be rehabilitated, and it will be a grand affair.
The purpose of the four people was very simple. Through this incident, they were paving the way for their reforms and winning people's hearts.
Once the work is done, the four of them will openly stand up to promote reform, establish themselves as the reformist faction, and label those who attacked them before as the old party.
In this case, it is no longer a problem about them personally, but a dispute between the new and old lines.
This way, the pressure on the four of them will be much less, and they will also gain a lot of manpower to help them. As long as His Majesty can support them, with the current strength of the four of them, they can definitely push it forward.
So after Huang Kezun made his suggestion, the other three did not object.
Xu Guangqi nodded and said, "That's exactly what should be done."
Sun Chengzong also said: "Let's write a title book later."
Han Yu nodded and said expressionlessly, "Let's do it this way. After this incident is over, we will take care of this matter."
In the Western Garden.
Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Zhongxian and Luo Sigong in front of him, took a sip of tea from his cup, and asked, "Have you heard about what's happening outside?"
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