Ouyang Xiu has been in a very bad mood recently, since the new policy was implemented, Ouyang Xiu thought that he could show his skills and become one of the central ministers, so he made a major choice, and even gave up the strategy of keeping up with Yan Shu, and did not hesitate to waste the good relationship that had been established through Su Jin and Yan Shu for a long time.

Of course, this can't be completely blamed on Ouyang Xiu for climbing another high branch, the general trend of the new deal, but Yan Shu has an indispensable attitude towards this, of course he can't follow Yan Shu's steps, what he can't understand is Su Jin's attitude, he thought he was a firm supporter of the change, but he didn't expect the four giants to come to the door to invite but all of them were deflated, Su Jin's attitude was actually against this radical change, and persuaded them to slow down.

Ouyang Xiu can't wait any longer, he has been wandering in the court for more than ten years, the official position is not big or small, but he has never been able to enter the core of power, he used to rely on the impeachment of officials to find a sense of existence in the court, as he grew older, Ouyang Xiu felt that that method was definitely not the right way; To truly become a core member of power, you can only do one big thing, and this new deal is the best opportunity.

In view of this, he resolutely joined the camp of the upstart Fan Zhongyan Han Qi and others in the imperial court, gave advice to them, and led the officials to carry out round after round of verbal and written criticism of officials who opposed the new policy, and Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi and others also relied more and more on Ouyang Xiu, and they would consult him for advice, which gave Ouyang Xiu a considerable sense of satisfaction.

In fact, Ouyang Xiu didn't have much idea about the pros and cons of the new deal itself, on the contrary, he somewhat agreed with Su Jin's statement, with the implementation of the new deal, this feeling became stronger and stronger, and officials from all over the country made him feel that the new deal was implemented too quickly, and the pressure of rebound was also great.

Looking inside and outside the court, there were very few people who supported the new policy, most of them were opposed, and some were wait-and-see; When the fire of the new policy burned to the heads of the Beijing officials, many old ministers did not hesitate to kneel outside the palace gate to put pressure on the emperor.

However, Ouyang Xiu doesn't care about this, there is Zhao Zhen standing behind them, as long as Zhao Zhen supports it, the new policy will inevitably be implemented, no matter how others oppose it, how the government and the opposition are criticized inside and outside, with the support of the emperor, you can not care about anything, this is the biggest thigh; In fact, this is also the ultimate reason why Ouyang Xiu chose to actively implement the new policy with Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others.

To put it bluntly, figuring out the holy will and doing what the emperor wants to do is better than hugging anyone's thighs.

However, a series of recent events have made Ouyang Xiu feel very angry, and the rest is fine, the most important thing is that the emperor's attitude seems to have changed somewhat, in the past, after each dynasty, he must summon Han Fan Fubi and himself, and gently inquire about the progress of the new policy and the remarks of the outside world, and occasionally say a few words of relief to help pay attention, but since the year later, Zhao Zhen's alienated attitude has been extremely obvious.

Ouyang Xiu privately analyzed the reason, thinking that it was the case of Shi Jie and Fu Bi that aroused the emperor's vigilance, after all, when it comes to rebellion, when the emperor is the most taboo, when the case is not solved, it is normal for people to be estranged.

However, this morning, Zhao Zhen announced the evidence provided by Su Jin, announced that the case was solved, and someone forged Shi Jie's letter to frame Fu Bi, and comforted Fu Bi a few words; But then Fan Zhongyan put forward several proposals about the new policy but they were still rejected one by one, Zhao Zhen said that they wanted them to consider it more carefully, but everyone could see that Zhao Zhen had no interest in these recitals; On the contrary, he was extremely interested in Qian Mingyi's proposal to target some people in the court who formed a partisan party and fought against each other, and ordered all officials to introspect themselves, and his tone was extremely harsh.

Ouyang Xiu was extremely disappointed, everything was reversing in the direction he didn't want, the emperor's attitude was enough to explain everything, and his dream of taking the opportunity of the new deal to enter the position of the central core seemed to be out of reach.

Ouyang Xiu got out of the carriage with a gloomy face and returned to his mansion, and the official Lao He came forward to say hello, and then helped Ouyang Xiu hold the official hat and Chaobei, and accompanied Ouyang Xiu to the inner hall.

"Master, the fragrant cakes in the flower hall have been burned, go in to warm up, I ordered someone to boil some wheat porridge for the master, the master didn't eat breakfast in the morning, this will be a cushion for the stomach."

Ouyang Xiu sighed and said, "Where is the appetite, can someone come to visit the house in the morning?" ”

This is a sentence that Ouyang Xiu has often asked recently, since he became a man of the year in the implementation of the New Deal, there have been constant visitors to his home, which makes Ouyang Xiu feel a little powerful, but recently the door has been cold, and these people's sense of smell is extremely sensitive, and they seem to have sniffed out something, and they are reluctant to come.

"This ...... Not really. Lao He naturally understood his master's thoughts, and when he saw Ouyang Xiu's face showing disappointment, he hurriedly said: "But someone sent a letter, a servant dressed as a servant, and asked him whose family he was, but he didn't answer, and asked the master to see it himself."

"Oh? Where is the faith? Ouyang Xiu asked.

"Put it in the study, and the villain will bring it." Lao He pulled out his feet and left.

"No need, I'll go to the study by myself, and you can order someone to light the incense cake in the study."

"Yes!" Lao He hurriedly went to Zhang Luo.

Ouyang Xiu wiped his face with hot water under the service of the maid, changed into civilian clothes and came to the study, the study was already fragrant and warm, Su Ji Baoshan fragrant cake is indeed a good thing, this winter is quite difficult without this fragrant cake, although Su Jin and his own political views do not agree, but he gave himself more than 100 catties of fragrant cakes he is still reluctant to refuse, no matter what, he can be regarded as a friend with him, Su Jin has not forgotten himself.

The letter was resting on the desk, Ouyang Xiu reached out and picked it up and looked at it over and over again, there was no money on the envelope, and he couldn't tell who left it.

"What kind of sneaky people want to learn how to use conspiracy to write a letter of rebellion and slander me?" Ouyang Xiu sneered, tore open the seal and said to himself, "Why am I afraid of these little tricks. ”

The letterhead was taken out and unfolded, the content of the letter was written extremely concisely, Ouyang Xiu quickly read the letter in less than a few dozen breaths, and his face became pale, this letter was obviously written by an official, and it was a close minister trusted by the emperor, the content of the letter was a secret conversation between the emperor and the letterwriter, and a secret conversation about the theory of friends between the DPRK and China.

It can be seen from the letter that the emperor attaches more importance to the affairs of the friends than he imagined, and the remarks in it are already quite severe, and it can be imagined that the emperor is jealous of the troubles of the friends in his heart.

The last suggestion of the letter writer is: Ouyang Zhongcheng should inform the gentlemen, the book dissects himself, vetoes the fact that there is a party, the saint has a lot of fear of this, at this time must be the heart of the saint, the theory of the party, must not defy the wind, ignore it, this is the top priority, the matter of the new deal is slowed down, and the matter can be calmed down before trying again, Lord Zhongcheng is cautious!

Ouyang Xiu sat down dejectedly, his mind was blank, if the matter was really as serious as the letter said, it meant that not only could the new deal not be carried out, but he and Fan Zhongyan and others would have to criticize and self-criticize, and the letter clearly stated that the so-called friends of the DPRK and China referred to Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fu Bi, and himself and several other officials, that is, this crooked wind was blowing against himself and others.

What to do? How true is this letter? Is the person who wrote the letter mean good or bad? Will the emperor make a big fuss and guard against them as friends and the source of chaos in the court? How should I deal with it? Many questions came one after another, filling Ouyang Xiu's frustrated head.

After sitting for a long time, Ouyang Xiu picked up the letter and read it back and forth several times, and when he saw the sentence 'Slow down of the New Deal', Ouyang Xiu jumped up and thought with a sneer: "I was almost deceived, this must be someone's trick, if you can't make a plan, you can't make a plan, and if you can't force it, this is a plan to attack the heart; Lord Fan and Lord Han are equal to us implementing the new policy on the orders of the emperor, how can the emperor be afraid of us and other like-minded people discussing the new policy? This is a clear act of sowing discord! The emperor asked about the pros and cons of friends in the court, and Fan openly and honestly expressed his heart and said that as long as it is for the country and the people, there is no need to make a fuss about it, and the emperor did not say anything angry at that time, which shows that the emperor acquiesced to Fan Gong's words, and now this inexplicable letter pops up, the purpose of which is to let us delay the implementation of the new policy, which is really deliberate. ”

Ouyang Xiu sneered a few times, tore the letterhead to pieces with both hands and said angrily: "I don't want you to get what you want, not only that, but I also have to write to the emperor to clarify the matter of friends, lest anyone make a fuss about this, I want to explain to the emperor clearly, not all friends are to harm the court and endanger the society, yes, I, Ouyang Xiu, am friends with Lord Fan, Lord Han and others, but I am determined to serve the country, how can I be half of the trouble?" ”

Ouyang Xiu got up suddenly, spread out the blank paper, sharpened the ink and pen, and after a while, a sprinkled "Theory of Friends" jumped on the paper, Ouyang Xiu checked it several times, carefully put it away with satisfaction, sandwiched it between the folds and hard seals, and called someone to prepare to drive into the palace.