In the long history of the Song Dynasty, there were "real traitorous ministers" and "** ministers". The "Biography of the Traitorous Minister" in the "History of the Song Dynasty" includes the names of 21 people in 4 volumes, including Cai Qu, Xing Shu, Lu Huiqing, Zhang Dian, Zeng Bu, An Dan and others.
However, historian Yu Chaogang raised three questions about this: the first question is, for more than 100 years before Cai Qu, there was not a single traitor within the ruling group of the Song Dynasty?
The second question is that in the two Song Dynasty and three hundred years, there were a total of 21 traitorous ministers, and Wang Anshi's supporters and followers accounted for one-third, so what did the compiler of the "History of the Song Dynasty" want to explain?
The third question is, are these people really traitors? Regardless of the others for the time being, let's take a closer look at Zhang Dian today, this "traitorous minister" who should be rehabilitated.
Zhang Dun is a native of Pucheng, Fujian. His friend Su Shi was the same Jinshi in the imperial examination in the second year of Jiayou, and this list was full of talents. Interestingly, the champion of this list is called Zhang Heng, who is Zhang Heng's nephew.
Zhang Dian felt that it was a shame to be ranked behind his nephew, so he threw away the admission letter and left. Two years later, Zhang Dian was admitted to the Jinshi again and passed the examination again. Zhang Dian is talented and competitive, and this kind of character has accompanied him all his life, and it is a blessing or a curse.
When he was young, Zhang Dian and Su Shi became close friends. They have been officials in Shaanxi, visited each other many times, and there is an interesting story of riding horses and watching tigers. Later, their fates differed due to different political views, but Zhang Dian always paid for Su Shi's friendship.
When the Fa-changers gained power, Su Shi was demoted, but Zhang Dian had a smooth career. When the Wutai poetry case broke out, Zhang Dian wrote a letter to comfort Su Shi and gave him a lot of help. Su Shi's friendship touched Su Shi very much.
During his exile, Su Shi lamented that the world was hot and cold, and only Zhang Dian had always taken good care of him. Although Zhang Dian has a high position, he still maintains a clear stream in the world, which is very rare.
The story between Su Shi and Zhang Dian has a long history, and they are both talented people in the Song Dynasty. Zhang Dian was degraded during the reign of Song Zhezong Yuanyou, and although Su Shi did not publicly ** him, he did not help him.
Zhang Dian was finally demoted to Ruzhou, and his body and mind were devastated, but he hoped to return to Hangzhou to take care of his father, but he failed to do so.
Su Shi wrote a letter to Zhang Dian after he was demoted, expressing their agreement to return to the countryside together in their early years, and hoping that Zhang Dian would be able to transcend fame.
Zhang Dian was later branded a "traitor", and the friendship between the two broke down, but they still exchanged letters. During the Shaosheng and Yuanfu periods of Song Zhezong's pro-government, Zhang Dian was alone, while Su Shi was far away in Lingnan.
At this time, Zhang Dian did not go to rescue Su Shi, but continued to be belittled. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, the encounter between the two was even more intriguing. Zhang Dian died after being demoted to Leizhou, and he was posthumously named the Duke of Wei along with Su Shi.
But after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, the fate behind them reversed again. Zhang Dian was regarded as a traitor, and Su Shi became the much-loved "Su Wenzhong Gong".
This is the story between Su Shi and Zhang Dian, although the political differences between them are deep, their friendship still exists, only complicated by political involvement.
Screenshot 2 of Su Dongpo's documentary: Su Shi and Zhang Dian, two talented geniuses, have similarities in talent and ethics. However, the two have very different understandings of politics, which determines their differences in political views and positions.
Su Shi upheld humanistic feelings and spiritual idealism, and he believed that the traditional Confucian way of governance could solve all practical problems. However, in the face of the predicament of the rule of the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, this idealism seemed too idealistic.
In contrast, he focused more on realism, believing that the state needed to formulate targeted policies to manage chaos, rather than believing that the king's example and cultivation could solve all problems.
The difference in the ideological foundation of the two determines that their achievements in the field of governance have their own emphasis. Su Shi had achievements in local governance, but he lacked in the governance of the imperial court.
His fame is mainly due to his poetry, essays, and moral character. And Zhang Dian is good at governing the country and using soldiers, although his life has been bumpy, he has still become one of the most important figures in the Northern Song Dynasty.
His political prowess cannot be denied by those who oppose him, so opponents can only make a fuss about his character.
However, there is no record in the history books that Zhang Dian had any problems with his conduct, but during the period of Wang Anshi's reform, someone recommended Zhang Dian to Wang Anshi, and Wang Anshi said that he was "extremely incompetent".
But later facts proved that Zhang Dian was not a villain as the world said, but was only slandered and slandered by the world.
The story reveals the penmanship of Song historians, who always portrayed in a negative way those they considered to be oppositionists.
For example, they emphasized Zhang's character in order to belittle the other members of Wang's reform team, and even portrayed them as a group of villains. However, we must not ignore the excellent talents and unique ideas of Zhang Dian because of the bias of historians.
Throughout his life, Zhang Dian insisted on changing the law and reforming, being fair and selfless, regardless of personal safety, serving the country and the people, and daring to challenge injustice. When he was passing through the Jinghu North Road, he successfully put down the rebellion with a policy of both softness and toughness, and won the hearts and minds of the local people.
Although his contribution was ignored, he never changed his original intention, and after being promoted to the prison of armaments, he fought the fire without risking his life, and after being promoted to the position of the third secretary, he carried out drastic reforms, sorted out the accounts, set up an accounting department, and made the account books clear.
Even after being deposed, he stood up to his convictions and argued with conservatives, accusing them of undermining procedural legitimacy. His efforts gave the Northern Song Dynasty a dazzling return to the light and gave the Northern Song Dynasty a chance to enrich the country and strengthen the army.
During the seven years that Zhang Dian was the prime minister, he did not completely deny the practices of the Yuanyou period as Sima Guang did when he exterminated the new law, but retained some practical laws and regulations of the Yuanyou period in a realistic manner, showing the pattern of a great statesman.
Title: Zhang Dun: The "untimely" person who dares to tell the truth Many people know that Su Shi is famous for being "untimely". In fact, as Su Shi's friend, Zhang Dian is also famous for being "untimely".
During his lifetime, both those who opposed him and those who supported him acknowledged him as a man who was outspoken, straightforward, and never steered by the wind.
No matter who he is in front of, whether it is the emperor or the queen regent, he can say whatever he thinks, regardless of personal interests and losses.
Zhang Dian was known for daring to speak the truth, and he insisted on defending Wang Anshi's efforts to change the law regardless of his personal safety.
Although the conservatives took turns to ** him, he resolutely did not degrade or leave, and would rather be demoted than ask for release, in exchange for time to defend the exemption law that Wang Anshi valued most.
This spirit of Zhangdun was lacking in many courtiers, who often chose to pander to power and abandon their principles and beliefs. Zhang Dian is also known for not climbing the dragon and the phoenix, and being opportunistic.
When asking the Empress Dowager for her opinion on Zhao Ji, the king of Liduan, as the heir to the throne, Zhang Dian was blunt, thinking that Zhao Ji was frivolous and could not rule the world. The other ministers figured out the intention and blindly agreed, but Zhang Dian repeatedly tried to ignore it.
This kind of spirit of his is lacking in many courtiers, and they often choose to climb the dragon and attach themselves to the phoenix, giving up their principles and beliefs.
Zhang Dan's spirit of daring to tell the truth, not climbing the dragon and the phoenix, and being opportunistic made him a real "unfashionable" person.
However, it is this spirit of his that makes him a true hero, a hero who is not afraid of power and sticks to his principles. His spirit deserves to be learned and respected by each and every one of us.
Although the traditional official history portrays Zhang Dian as a traitorous minister, in the long river of history, the brilliance of his direct minister still cannot be concealed.
The history books written by the descendants of the Yuanyou Party slandered Zhang Dian's character because of their opposition to the reformers, but they could not come up with concrete examples to support their judgment except for saying that he was "talented but not capable".
On the contrary, the deeds of Zhang Dian recorded by them proved that he was a person who was principled and had a bottom line. He held power for many years, but never delegated official positions to friends and relatives.
All four sons were admitted to the Jinshi examination, but except for one who served as a low-level official in the school secretary, the other three were all officials in the state and county, and none of them had a prominent status. If he is a traitor, then have I ever seen a traitor who does not show favoritism?
He believed, carried forward and improved Wang Anshi's reform ideas all his life, but at a critical moment in his life, another leader of the reform faction, Cai Bian, tried his best to promote Wang Anshi's ***, but he soberly stood up against it, saying that he had never respected Wang Anshi as a "true person, a supreme person, and a saint".
If he is a traitor, then have I ever seen a traitor who is not flattering? He was an honest official, and it is said that after his death, his family was poor and difficult to bury, and one of his fingers was gnawed off by rats.
Even those who want to slander him don't dare to say that he *** If he is a traitor, then may I ask if I have ever seen a traitor who is not **? He held on to the land and refused to give up an inch of land.
After he came to power, he severed the gifts given to Western Xia and actively launched a campaign to regain the lost territories. If he is a traitor, then have I ever seen a traitor who is not **?
No favoritism, no **, no flattery, no **, if he is a traitor, then what is he Zhang Dian for? Could it be that as a traitor, what he pursues is principles, bottom lines, conscience and courage?
As to the question of whether Zhang Dian was a traitor, we should judge from the reality of history.
The History of the Song Dynasty included Zhang Dian in the "Biography of the Traitorous Minister" because he was a supporter and successor of Wang Anshi's reforms, and Wang Anshi's new laws have always been despised by the mainstream of society because they were changing the family law of their ancestors and focusing on financial management.
However, after modern times, Wang Anshi's reform has been more fairly evaluated. However, for a long time before this, Wang Anshi's reform of the law has been despised by the mainstream of society because of the chaos of the ancestral family law and the emphasis on financial management.
Cheng Zhu Lixue, who occupied the mainstream after the Song Dynasty, emphasized "moral governance" and despised "technological governance", and naturally did not have a good impression of Wang Anshi's new law, which emphasized the practical operation of law, finance, and economy.
As a result, traditional history books are more likely to blame the decline of the dynasty on the reforms, and on those who advocated and supported them.
Therefore, during the Song Dynasty, in the face of the political crisis of the collapse of the country and the collapse of the family, what the imperial court needed to do was to review the reasons for the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty and determine who would bear the historical responsibility.
Song Gaozong exonerated his father and brother from historical responsibility, and pushed the danger of the state from Cai Jing to Wang Anshi's reform of the law, and let a group of "traitorous ministers" who implemented the law change bear the infamy.
Therefore, the people of the Southern Song Dynasty criticized Cai Jing for misleading the country and pointed the finger at Wang Anshi's reform of the law, believing that the change of the law messed up the family law of the ancestors and eventually caused the difficulty of Jingkang, which has become a kind of political correctness.
Therefore, since the "History of the Song Dynasty" established the "Biography of the Traitorous Minister", there have been only traitors and no faint kings and tyrants in Chinese history.