"Teacher's Talk", " Guizhou Donkey ", " Humble Room Inscription ", "Carbon Selling Man", we may be able to recite these famous classical Chinese works in middle school days casually, while the authors Han Yu , Liu Zongyuan , Liu Yuxi, Bai Juyi , these famous classical Chinese masters in middle school Chinese textbooks, it is difficult for us to outline the picture of the same absurd and turbid era in the same absurd and turbid era.
In fact, they participated in this innovation together and witnessed this failure. This is the Yongzhen Innovation that lasted for more than 100 days in the middle of the Tang Dynasty and finally ended in failure.
1. Time background
There are three direct reasons for the incorrect ruling of the dynasty in the middle of the Tang Dynasty and the intensification of social contradictions, eunuchs' autocracy, separatist vassal custody and the dispute between cliques .
Eunuch's autocracy began with the sages of the secretary Galix . After the Anshi Rebellion, the emperor did not believe in court officials, and the eunuchs gradually came to the forefront. The Li Fuguo during the reign of Emperor Suzong of Tang (Li Heng), Cheng Yuanzhen during the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang (Li Yu) and Yu Chaoen all served as prime ministers and in charge of military talismans as eunuchs. They held the military and political power of the court and had no scruples, which led to the government's more corrupt and chaotic government and the people's lives. By the later years of the Tang Dezong ( Li Shi ), even the elite troops of the capital, Shen Ce Army, fell into the hands of eunuchs.
separatist originated from the decline of the equal-field system and the government military system. Tang Xuanzong (Li Longji) had no choice but to implement the recruitment system. Jiedu . The Jiedu 's autonomy continued to increase, which triggered the Anshi Rebellion, and the court basically lost control of the Jiedu . In the eight years of the Anshi Rebellion, the Li Tang court almost subverted. Although it was lucky to be pacified, the separatist riots of the vassal states broke out one after another, and there was no peace. As soon as the Jiedushi died, his descendants publicly demanded power from the court. The Jiedushi was originally appointed by the court, but gradually became a successor system. The court was unable to curb the situation, and the vassal states acted recklessly, forming a situation where "the imperial edict was difficult to leave the Xuanzheng Hall."
Friends originated from Wu Zetian vigorously promoting the imperial examination system, promoting and using a group of scholars from the cold clans, and innovating the "Guanzhong-based policy" for more than four or five hundred years. The era of the aristocratic family taking charge of the government alone has come to an end, but the remnants of the aristocratic family have not been fundamentally eliminated and have competed with the emerging group of scholars of the cold clans. With the increasing destruction of the government, the contradiction between the two major forces is becoming increasingly acute.
2. Reform layout
" Zizhi Tongjian " takes the pain point of society - Gongshi, as the entry point, to unveil the mystery of this Yongzhen reform. The beginning of the article says: " Shuwen is treacherous and tricky, and says that he knows how to govern himself. He often talks about the sufferings of the people for the prince. The prince once discussed the affairs of the palace with his ministers and Shushi..."
In his later years, the prince ( Li Song ) had two passionate celebrities in the East Palace, one was Wang Yi who was good at calligraphy, and the other was Wang Shuwen who was good at chess.
Sima Guang believes that Wang Shuwen is very tricky and claims to have read books and understand the principles of governing the government. He often takes the opportunity to tell the prince about the sufferings of the people. Sima Guang's words convey his negative attitude towards Wang Shuwen himself and the Yongzhen Innovation planned and implemented with him.
The prince once talked to the East Palace staff about the matter about the palace. The prince said he was going to make a suggestion to His Majesty on this matter. Everyone agreed, but Wang Shuwen didn't say a word.
After the meeting, the prince left Wang Shuwen alone. Wang Shuwen said that the prince’s duty is to greet the emperor, and it is best not to talk about the government affairs. Your Majesty has been in power for a long time. If you suspect that the prince will win people’s hearts, how can the prince explain it?
The prince was shocked and said that if it weren’t for the words of the gentleman, how could I have thought of this level? As a result, the prince favored Wang Shuwen even more. Wang Shuwen also used this trust to secretly cultivate a group of reform pioneers to implement reform layout in the future.
These pioneers of innovation include Lu Chun , Lu Wen , Li Jingjian, Han Ye, Han Tae, Chen Jian, Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi, etc. Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi served as the censors at that time.
In September 804 AD, Prince Li Song stroke and could not speak.Three months later, the 63-year-old Emperor Dezong of Tang reigned for 26 years and died of illness. The 44-year-old Li Song was the crown prince for 26 years and finally waited for the throne of the emperor, which was for Tang Shunzong of Tang .
When Emperor Dezong of Tang was critically ill, Wang Qi was able to enter the inner court from the Eastern Palace. He falsely circulated an edict to ask Wang Shuwen to enter the Hanlin Academy to deal with the government affairs, which gave him the basis for implementing reforms.
After Emperor Shunzong of Tang Dynasty Li Song ascended the throne, he was unable to speak and was inconvenient to handle affairs in the court, so he lived in You Palace all day long, with only the eunuch Li Zhongyan and the favorite concubine Niu Zhaorong serving. When the ministers made a report, Emperor Shunzong of Tang approved it after the curtain.
The operating mechanism of the government has evolved into the "Five Biography", that is, if the ministers have something to report to the prime minister, they will first report to the prime minister Wei Zhiyi , and then Wang Shuwen, Wang Yi, the Three Classics Wang Yi, the Four Classics Li Zhongyan, and Niu Zhaorong, and Li Song, the Five Classics Emperor Shunzong of Tang, can only know. Only by issuing an imperial edict or an edict can the process be passed on in turn to be conveyed to the execution of the ministers. In the outer court, relying on Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi and others, they are mainly responsible for collecting and exploring external affairs.
This means that Wang Shuwen and Wang Ji have initially completed the preliminary layout of innovation and have the basic conditions for promoting innovation. "Zizhi Tongjian" says that they plan and plan to respond to each other, and mercenary to each other. They are Yi Yin , Zhou Gong , Guan Zhong , Zhuge Liang , " Honor and disgrace advance and retreat, born in the rhetoric, but they do whatever they want, without restraint of the procedures. The scholars and officials fear it, and the road is aimed at it. " They make the promotion of court officials in a hurry. As long as they want to do, they can be unrestrained by the rules and regulations. The scholars and officials are afraid of them and dare not speak out.
This is of course a pain that innovation must bear. To eliminate the disadvantages, it will inevitably touch the interests of vested interest groups. Sima Guang's words are of course biased.
3. The Road to Innovation
The "Palace City" opened the curtain of innovation. What exactly is "Mingshi"? Why did Wang Shuwen promote the Yongzhen Innovation and burn the first fire to the "Palace Market"?
"Prefecture" was a rise in the later years of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty. The imperial court appointed eunuchs as envoys and could purchase materials needed by the inner court on the market at a low price, which was called "Prefecture". During the actual implementation process, eunuchs set up hundreds of waiting and see points in the market. When they saw good things, they forcibly occupied them in the name of "Palace Market", which was called "Bai Wang" by the people. The common people dare not speak out, and they cannot even distinguish between true and false, nor can they resist. Some people go to the city to sell things, and often have the tragedy of returning empty-handed.
"Zizhi Tongjian" tells a story specifically. It was said that there was a farmer who used a donkey to carry firewood to sell it. The eunuch claimed to be a palace market, took away his firewood, gave him a few feet of cloth, and asked for money from the doorstep, and asked for the donkey to send the firewood to the inner court. The farmer cried and returned the cloth to the eunuch. The eunuch didn't want it, saying that he had to get the donkey. The farmer cried and said, "I have an old mother and a wife and a child, and I have all made money by it. Now I give you the firewood and go back if I don't have money, but you still refuse to let me go, so I can only fight with you." So the farmer beat the eunuch and was arrested and imprisoned. The matter caused a lot of controversy, just like the "help or not" incident that year, so that Emperor Dezong of Tang knew about such a low-level matter, severely punished the eunuch and rewarded the farmer with 10 pieces of silk cloth. However, Miyagi did not change because of this.
Li Shen When he was living in Suzhou, he saw the hardships of the people with his own eyes and wrote two poems "Praise for the Farmers", which became a famous work that has been passed down through the ages. First, " Plant a grain of millet in spring and harvest ten thousand seeds in autumn. There is no idle field in the world, and the farmer still starves to death"; second, " hoe the wheat at noon, and sweat drips into the soil. Who knows that every grain of food on the plate is hard to work with.
Jingzhao Yin Wu Coo and others have repeatedly discussed the shortcomings of the palace market and requested reform of the palace procurement system, but they were all framed and demoted by the eunuch group. After taking over the post of Jingzhao Yin, Si Nongqing Li Shi specially imposed heavy taxes in order to win the favor of Emperor Dezong of Tang. He also said to Emperor Dezong of Tang: "Half a drought this year, the crops and seedlings are very beautiful. " concealed the hardships of the people, so the court did not promptly exempt taxes from disaster relief, so the people were so poor that they relied on demolishing houses and selling tiles to pay taxes.
"Zizhi Tongjian" records: [ The Censor Han Yu submitted a memorial, saying, "The people in the capital are poor and those who have not obtained taxes and grass millet this year, please wait for the silkworm and wheat to be demoted to Yangshan Order. ] Although Han Yu is not a reformist, as a Confucian student with ambition to save the world and the country, he risked his life to expose the suffering of the people and requested tax exemption for disaster relief, and did not escape the fate of being demoted.
Therefore, Wang Shuwen, the pioneer of innovation, burned the first fire to the "Palace City", and listed the crimes of Jingzhao Yin Li Shi's cruel and tyrannical accumulating people's wealth, and demoted him to the Chief Shi of the Tongzhou. The people of Chang'an "cheered in the city, and all their sleeves were rubble and covered the road and waited for it." The people were happy about Li Shi's demotion and went to the streets, tile and stone hidden in their sleeves, waiting for Li Shi's arrival.
3 days later, the people of the world welcomed another great news. The court issued an edict to announce three key matters that concern the vital interests of the people of the world: , , , , , all waive the people's arrears and taxes levied by the previous dynasty under various names, , , , , , all harbors and other policies that harm the interests of the people, will be abolished.
What is "Five Floor"? In the later years of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty, the court set up five wings of "eagle, falcon, harrier, eagle, and dog" to be responsible for catching birds and birds in the folk nets. But these people wear tiger skins and hold big banners, take the opportunity to oppress the people, and take advantage of the situation to seize the robbery.
Some people set up the network at the door of the people's house, and they can't even enter and exit the door without paying money; some people set up the network at the well, and they can't even drink water without paying money. If someone is dissatisfied with this, the Wufang Guard will say, "You alarmed the birds who were about to dedicate to the court and beat the people immediately."
These people bully others by relying on their power, and they eat a meal all day long. Some hotel owners do not know their identities and ask for money from them. They either commit violence or leave a bag of snakes as collateral, saying that these snakes are used to catch birds and now they are temporarily mortgaged for you as money for food. You must raise them properly and don’t let them starve and be thirsty, forcing the store owner to beg and not take the money, so they will take the snake away.
Liu Zongyuan tearfully exposed the darkness of society in "The Snake Catcher" for this. The snake-catching man Lao Chiang catching snakes for three generations. The first two generations died of snake hunting, and he himself was in danger several times. When Liu Zongyuan said that he could suggest the cancellation of snake hunting, Lao Chiang firmly stopped it, saying that some taxes can be exempted from the replenishment of snakes. Once it was cancelled, even his family might not be able to support him. Liu Zongyuan silently shouted, "The harsh government is as fierce as a tiger."
So, we see that the Yongzhen reform led by Wang Shuwen and supported and participated by Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi and others was deeply supported by the people. This was also a useful exploration and positive progress under the chaotic government at that time.
However, this joyful innovation lasted for only more than 100 days and ended in failure because it hurt the vested interest groups.
4. Reform failed
In addition to the above-mentioned prominent ills such as the cancellation of "palace market" and "five wings" and "daily advances" that regularly worship the emperor, crack down on corrupt officials and officials who were hated by the people such as Li Shi, the Jingzhao Yin and Li Qi, the people who transported salt and iron, regained military power from the official group, suppressed the power of the vassal states, etc. Obviously, no matter which reform, it will infringe on the vested interests of the eunuch group and the remnants of the gentry.
The opposition tried hard to backfire. They "first outside and then inside and outside" to disintegrate the forces of the reformists, first framed Liu Yuxi and "constructed the government with evil and chaos, and should not be in the court ", and then coerced and tempted Tang Shunzong Li Song to enthrone the crown prince as soon as possible. When the opposition celebrated each other, Wang Shuwen was full of sorrow and silently recited Du Fu 's "Zhuge Liang Ancestral Hall" by Du Fu " died before he succeeded, which made the hero cry. "
Immediately afterwards, the opposition managed to remove Wang Shuwen from his position as a Hanlin Bachelor. Wang Shuwen was shocked when he saw the edict. He said privately that I would come here on time to handle government affairs every day. If I could not hold a position in the Hanlin Academy, there would be no reason to come here.
Wang Qi tried his best to save and reform and requested to retain his bachelor's position, but Tang Shunzong failed to obey under pressure from the opposition.With Wang Yi's repeated efforts, all parties reached a preliminary settlement and allowed Wang Shuwen to go to the Hanlin Academy once every three or five days. Wang Shuwen began to feel scared.
In June 805, Wang Shuwen, the chairman of the reformist faction, had a conflict with Wei Zhiyi, the CEO of the reformist faction. At that time, Xuan She Inspector Yang Shiyan went to Beijing to publicly expose Wang Shuwen's crime of autocracy. Wang Shuwen wanted to issue an edict to behead him, but Prime Minister Wei Zhiyi disagreed; Wang Shuwen planned to beat him to death with a stick, but Wei Zhiyi did not do it. In the end, the two of them could only take one step back and punish Yang Shiyan for being demoted to the official position. As a result, Wang Shuwen began to hate the CEO he supported, and their disciples and former officials were also scared.
Immediately afterwards, Liu Pi, deputy envoy of Jiannan Jiedu, went to Beijing and told Wang Shuwen on behalf of Jiannan Jieduan Wei Gao , demanding to command Sanchuan in Jiannan, and even threatening Wang Shuwen that if Sanchuan was not handed over to Wei Gao, Wei Gao would definitely repay Wang Shuwen. This can be said to be a direct contest to curb the reform of the vassal states. Of course, Wang Shuwen would not agree, and he planned to kill Liu Pi. But Wei Zhiyi still disagreed. "Zizhi Tongjian" also explained that the reason why he disobeyed the chairman's order was that " was forced to public discussion, so it was always similar and similar ".
As the bottom-level executive of the reformist faction, Prime Minister Wei Zhiyi felt the strong pressure from the opposition in the process of implementing various reform measures, so he always disobeyed Wang Shuwen's orders. Afterwards, he always asked someone to apologize to Wang Shuwen and said, "I dare not violate the agreement, but just plan to try my best to achieve my brother's affairs!" It means that so far, Wang Shuwen's innovation has been gradually undermined.
When the reformists seized military power, the officials gradually woke up and gathered the generals on the frontier and said, "If we continue to do our best, we will definitely die at their hands." So they secretly ordered the generals from all over the country not to belong to others, and Wang Shuwen had no choice but to do anything.
Coincidentally, Wang Shuwen's mother died very ill soon. Wang Shuwen was forced to go home to serve and attend the funeral, and lost the command of reform. Before leaving, he told the reformists: "I do my best to avoid difficulties, all to repay the grace of the court. Once I leave the court, all kinds of slander come one after another. Who will understand my hidden loyalty?"
Wang Shi was anxious and lost all day long, hoping to make peace with the eunuch group, requesting Wang Shuwen as prime minister, serve as the envoy of Weiyuan Army, etc., but there was no consensus. The entire reformists were shrouded in the shadow of fear, so Wang Shi suddenly suffered a stroke and went home to recuperate.
At this time, the two kings were all excluded. Under the strong pressure of the opposition, Tang Shunzong Li Song finally issued an edict to abdicate and rename the Supreme Emperor. The crown prince Li Chun ascended the throne, which was for Tang Xianzong .
Emperor Xianzong of Tang Dynasty Li Chun ordered Wang Shuwen to be sentenced to death, demoted Wang Yi to Sima Kaizhou, Prime Minister Wei Zhiyi was demoted to Sima Yazhou, Liu Zongyuan, the Minister of Rites, was demoted to the governor of Shaozhou, and Liu Yuxi, the Minister of Military Affairs, was demoted to the governor of Lianzhou. In addition, Han Tai, , Cheng Yi, and other reformists were demoted, and later they were demoted to Sima.
At this point, Tang Shunzong, who supported the reform, reigned for more than 100 days and was forced to abdicate. The " Two Tyrant Sima " reform group was all down, announcing the complete failure of Yongzhen's reform.
5. The rest of my life
The innovation failed. Although the literary masters we made in the middle school Chinese textbooks were demoted, their lives still have to continue. From their experience of moving to , we may have a deeper understanding of this innovation.
Han Yu offended the powerful before the reform. After the reform, he was lucky enough to return to the political arena, but he did not join the reform group, and he was not involved in much trouble. He was responsible for the revision of history and the follow-up examination. He did not make much achievements in the political arena, but instead shined in literature.
Liu Zongyuan was demoted to Yongzhou Sima, and lived in that miserable 10 years, but he also enjoyed himself, traveled through mountains and rivers, made friends with local scholars and students, and wrote " Eight Records of Yongzhou ", including " First Feast of the West Mountain Banquet ", " Little Stone Pool ", " Bamboo trees on all sides are surrounded by bamboo trees, lonely, lonely, cold, and quiet ". These beautiful essays with slightly vague memories implicitly express the sadness and sadness that Liu Zongyuan could not be relieved after being demoted.
10 years later, Liu Zongyuan received an edict to return to Beijing, but after more than a month of long journey back to Chang'an, he still did not receive any reuse. He went back and forth several times. Liu Zongyuan died in a foreign land and died of illness at the age of 47. " Birds fly away from thousands of mountains, and people die in thousands of paths. The old man in a boat, the straw hat, fishing alone in the snow in the cold river. " Perhaps it was his true state of mind that he felt the loneliest and coldest when his life fell to the bottom.
Liu Yuxi was demoted to Sima, Far Prefecture for nearly 10 years. He has created a large number of fable poems to express his great dissatisfaction with the powerful and nobles of the dynasty, and also expressed his ambition and ambition to sink. " The old swallow in front of the Wang Xie Hall flew into the homes of ordinary people " ("Wuyi Lane"), prominent and declining, honor and favor and desolation, but in a moment of thought. "Hot sunrises in the east and rains in the west, it is said that there is no sunshine but there is sunshine" (" Zhuzhi Ci "), he still has a good wish for the future. " Although it is hard to wash away thousands of strokes, it will only lead to golden after blowing all the yellow sand", " Don't say that it's too late, it's still cloudy, and the sky is full of clouds." After experiencing the storms, his thoughts have become more open and his poetry has become bolder.
He said in " Autumn Poems ", " Since ancient times, I have been sad and lonely in autumn. I say that autumn is better than spring. A crane radiates on the clouds in the clear sky, which leads poetry to the blue sky. " When he was feeling the spring breeze, he was suddenly driven out of the court. The depression in his heart is conceivable, but he still regards himself as a noble person, refuses to follow others, and his enterprising enthusiasm and open-minded and optimistic feelings make him a tumbler in his heart.
10 years later, he and Liu Zongyuan received an edict to return to Beijing at the same time. As a result, a poem offended the powerful again and was demoted to the governor of Lianzhou, Guangdong for 5 years. After 24 years of left-wing career, he has been to many places and eventually died of illness in Luoyang .
Among them, [Xian Du Liu Lang] may better capture the experience of Liu Yuxi's many relocations. In 815, he was demoted 10 years ago and returned to Beijing by an order to visit Xuandu Temple . The peach blossoms there were written by him 10 years ago. Now, it is " purple roads and red dust coming from his face, and everyone says he will see the flowers back. There are thousands of peach trees in Xuandu Temple, all of which were planted after Liu Lang left. " Someone told him that he was resentful, and he was demoted 14 years ago. When he returned to Chang'an, Xuandu is in a desolate state. The peach tree is gone. He sighed again, "Half of the atrium is moss, and the peach blossoms are gone. Where does the Taoist priest return to plant peaches? Liu Lang is here again before. "
When Liu Yuxi returned to Beijing, Li Shen, who wrote the famous work of "Praise for the Farmers", has been promoted to Sikong. He admires Liu Yuxi's talent and specially invited Liu Yuxi to his home. During the meal, Li Shen called a beautiful woman to persuade him to drink. Liu Yuxi said, ", combing his hair and making a palace look, and Du Weiniang is a song of spring breeze. Sikong is used to being idle and slashing the intestines of the governor of Jiangnan. " Li Shen, who once "mercies the farmers", is already accustomed to the things that the singer is accompanying him today. What a irony and contrast?
Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi are close friends. When they learned that their old friend Bai Juyi had passed away, Liu Yuxi wrote " Reward Lotte in the first meeting at Yangzhou Yangzhou. Gift ": " Bashan and Chu River are desolate, abandoned for twenty-three years. Nostalgia chants and hears the flute fu, and when he goes to the hometown, he looks like a rotten tree. Thousands of sails passed by the side of the sunken boat, and thousands of trees were springing in front of the sick tree. Today I listen to your song, and I will be refreshed by the glass of wine. " Things change, it seems like a different world, but his will is still so firm, and his spirit is still so optimistic.
