In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi's reform sparked widespread controversy and turmoil. In this context, a minister who was deeply trusted by the emperor sought power and credit in the court, secretly colluded with eunuchs, and was bent on personal gain and hoarding wealth.
Faced with such a situation in which traitors are in power and loyalty and goodness are in dilemma, a young prime minister did not want to sit idly by and watch the government decline day by day, so he skillfully set up a net of heaven and earth, and finally succeeded in making the traitor have no way to escape.
This young prime minister is Wang Zeng.
Wang Zeng, whose name is Zhongming, was a talented man in the last years of the Tang Dynasty. He was born in a famous family, young and intelligent, lost his father at an early age, and traveled with his uncle and experienced hardships. As an adult, Wang Zeng was diligent and studious, and finally obtained a half-official position, which was worthy of his name.
He was enthusiastic about the government, advocated the imperial power, and hoped to rectify the rule of officials, but because of this, he angered the eunuchs in power and was forced to be demoted. Although Wang Zeng returned to his hometown, he still cared about the world.
When the traitor was in power, he was unwilling to sit idly by, and with subtle means, he finally revived the country. In that turbulent and chaotic era, Wang Zeng's family suffered from war, but he still held on to his beliefs and ideals.
Wang Zeng suffered from war since he was a child, and his parents took him to wander around, sleeping in the open as his home, and the hardships of life caused him to experience the impermanence and hardship of life prematurely.
At the age of eight, his parents died, leaving him adrift, and his life went their separate ways. However, he met his uncle Wang Zongyuan, who was a kind and warm-hearted person, and he regarded Wang Zeng as his own son without children, accepted him, and took care of him with his heart.
Wang Zongyuan's kindness and love made Wang Zeng feel at home in this world, and also made him rediscover the hope and courage to live.
Under the careful cultivation of his uncle, Wang Zeng showed superhuman wisdom from an early age. He has an excellent memory, can improvise poems and write poems, and poems come easily. Wang Zeng's linguistic abilities and artistic talent made his uncle Wang Zongyuan have high hopes for him.
Wang Zongyuan carefully taught Wang Zeng, guided him to read and write, and taught the family academics. Wang Zeng lived up to the expectations of his elders and studied diligently, starting with Confucian classics and then reading a wide range of books, and was familiar with ancient and modern poetry.
After a long and unremitting study, Wang Zeng's knowledge has become richer and richer, and he has emerged among young people.
At the age of twenty-four, Wang Zeng won the first place in the imperial examination with his talent and hard work, and became a rare university talent of Lianzhong Sanyuan at that time, and became famous.
He grew up in a turbulent family environment, lost his family at a young age, and depended on his uncle for his life. These experiences made him deeply experience the cruelty of war and the power of reading to change his fate.
As a result, he saw through the impermanence of the world and firmly believed in the importance of individual struggle. These qualities led him to devote himself to state affairs immediately after the success of the imperial examination, hoping to use his own strength to change the status quo and contribute to the country and the nation.
After Wang Zengzhong became a scholar, he was highly valued by the emperor, and his career rose step by step. At that time, the Northern Song Dynasty was just established, and the situation had not yet been completely stabilized. At the imperial court, Wang Zeng actively advocated the strengthening of imperial power, believing that the emperor's direct reception of his courtiers was crucial to the stability of the court.
Wang Zeng's ideas coincided with the emperor's ideas, because the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty was a critical period for consolidating power. For five generations, the feudal towns were divided and the imperial power was lost, which seriously affected the unity of the country.
Wang Zeng was well aware of this principle, and advocated strengthening the imperial power, weakening the power of the feudal towns, and allowing the emperor to directly handle the affairs of the court.
At the council of the Later Zhou Guangshun year, Wang Zeng proposed that the emperor should come to the court in person and often discuss important matters with his ministers to ensure the stability and prosperity of the country. He believed that if the decrees were not unified, it would lead to the recurrence of the division of feudal towns.
After hearing this, the emperor very much agreed with Wang Zeng's view, believing that what he proposed was the fundamental strategy for governing the country. So the emperor began to frequently summon hundreds of officials to personally inquire about the affairs of the state.
Seeing that the emperor was so hands-on, the feudal town did not dare to act lightly, and the country gradually regained stability.
At a meeting on the reform of the imperial government, Wang Zeng put forward his own suggestion: "Your Majesty should communicate with his ministers more and listen to opinions extensively, so that he can understand public opinion and current affairs."
If the courtiers are unable to speak, the government will probably go against the will of the people. After hearing this, the emperor agreed, and decided to hold a meeting of hundreds of officials several times a month, so that the courtiers dared to speak out.
Wang Zeng saw that his suggestion was adopted by the emperor, and he was very relieved, and he tried his best to share the emperor's worries. With Wang Zeng's active participation, the emperor's prestige and the situation gradually stabilized.
The people live and work in peace and contentment, and the national strength gradually increases. It can be seen from this that Wang Zeng was good at identifying the Ming lord, fully defended the imperial power, and made outstanding contributions to the consolidation of the Northern Song Dynasty regime.
Although Wang was favored by the emperor, his smooth sailing did not last long. The traitorous villain was jealous of his favor and maliciously attacked him in front of the emperor.
In desperation, Wang Zeng could only temporarily avoid the struggle and take up the position of local official. After he took office, he found that some people in the local area were spreading rumors of strange powers, causing resentment among the people.
He took decisive action, opened the official door and patrolled all night, severely punishing those who spread rumors and caused trouble. Soon after, the society was stable, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Just when Wang had been governing the local area like a fish in water, the political situation in the capital changed.
Song Renzong was first established, and the power was controlled by Prime Minister Ding Wei. Ding Wei was obedient to the emperor on the surface, but in fact he colluded with the eunuchs and refused to allow the emperor to observe the government. Hearing this, Wang Zeng was furious, and he knew that such a practice would inevitably harm the country and the people.
Wang Zeng was trusted by the emperor for his loyalty, and his outspokenness and active implementation of reforms made him a thorn in the side of some traitors. These ** secretly slandered Wang Zeng and falsely accused him of having different intentions.
Although Wang Zeng knew nothing about this, he insisted on expressing his opinion in the court and firmly supported the reform. Once, he even directly named a corrupt minister among the emperor's close ministers and asked the emperor to deal with it seriously.
The minister was outraged by the revelations, and in his absence, he lied to the emperor that the king had been rude and framed the innocent. Those who had a grudge against Wang Zeng took the opportunity to speak in the emperor's ear, which made Wang Zeng's status in the emperor's heart gradually decline.
Because the emperor thought that Wang Zeng was too outspoken to be controlled, and because of the instigation of the traitor, he was transferred to avoid his sharp spirit. The king was very unhappy with this, and he expressed his loyalty and insisted that he had no two hearts.
However, the emperor had been deceived by the slanderous rumors, and Wang Zeng's above table did not provoke any reaction. Wang Zeng could only accept this fate in the end, and left the capital with grievances, full of resentment towards the traitor.
Wang had been demoted to a local post, and at first he was deeply disappointed in his career, and he also thought about retiring and no longer participating in politics. However, over the years, he felt a deep sense of responsibility to the people and decided to do his best for the benefit of the people.
After arriving here, Wang Zeng found that the local people were simple, but he was deeply worried by the widespread legend of superstition and strange powers. He believes that these nonsense may have been deliberately spread by someone to confuse the public.
Therefore, the king ordered the local people to arrest those who spread strange rumors to confuse the people, and openly declared that they should not listen to these absurd and strange legends, and that they should not make trouble, and that they should work in peace and in peace.
Under Wang Zeng's rule, he ordered the yamen to leave its gates open and patrol all night to prevent any possible chaos. After his careful arrangement, the absurd legends of the local area quickly disappeared, people worked with peace of mind, and the place was peaceful.
He also adopted many policies that benefited the people, such as building roads, repairing rivers, and distributing relief food, which were deeply loved by the people. Thanks to his hard work, the people of this place lived a stable life and the economy gradually prospered.
Although he suffered unfair treatment, he always cared for the country and did his best to eradicate harm to the people. It was precisely because of this local political achievement that Wang Zeng's reputation spread throughout the country.
Later, when he returned to the imperial court, these achievements became the basis for his ambitions.
Wang Zeng was proud of his career and his career was booming, but the political situation in the capital suddenly turned around. After Song Renzong ascended the throne, the treacherous prime minister Ding Wei monopolized power, and on the surface he seemed to be respectful to the emperor, but in fact he colluded with the eunuchs and refused to allow the emperor to participate in court politics.
When the king learned of this, he was furious, believing that it would bring great disaster to the country. Although Wang Zeng had been promoted to deputy prime minister, he knew that Ding Wei was too powerful to directly confront him, so he could only endure it for the time being.
However, he did not give up, and secretly plotted how to get rid of Ding Wei and restore the imperial power.
Wang Zeng relied on his wisdom and successfully exposed Ding Wei's evil deeds, which made the Queen Mother angry, so that Ding Wei was dismissed from his post and his family property was confiscated and assigned to the frontier. His strategy not only overthrew the traitors, but also supported the imperial power, stabilized the country's political situation, and enabled the people to live and work in peace and contentment.
Wang was once known as "able to endure and let go", but he did not stop there, but used villain methods to rectify traitors, and finally succeeded in preserving the country's social welfare.
When Song Renzong had just ascended the throne, Wang Zeng had already sat in the position of Tongzhongshu and became the deputy prime minister. However, at this time, the real power was in the hands of the power minister.
Ding Wei respects the emperor on the surface, but secretly colludes with the eunuchs, marginalizing the role of the emperor. In order to achieve the goal of gaining power, Ding Wei deliberately made a statement in front of the emperor, advocating that all government affairs should be submitted to the eunuchs for review first, and then the emperor would comment on them.
This practice gave the eunuchs more control. At first, the emperor had doubts about this, but under the instigation of Ding Wei, he finally agreed to this approach.