With a "snap", a book was thrown on the ground, Zhao Zhen gritted his teeth and frowned and scolded angrily: "A faction of nonsense, a faction of nonsense, Ouyang Xiu is talking to me, I want them to reflect on their words and deeds, and understand the attitude of the imperial court towards their friends, but he gave me such a recital, this is blatant contempt, is it tolerable or unbearable?" ”

Huang Peisheng, who was waiting on the side, was startled, and quickly picked up the fold and said: "The emperor is angry, the emperor should not be angry, Ouyang Xiu is a bad person, why should the emperor be angry for him." ”

"Humils? He doesn't know how shrewd, this is not his intention, but the common voice of those people who are mixed together, in my opinion, this is contempt, Huang Peisheng! The decree was immediately issued, and the officials of the two governments, three divisions, and six departments of each yamen immediately entered the palace, and I wanted to come to the court urgently. ”

Huang Peisheng bowed and said: "Holy Lord, it's almost the third watch, you still rest in peace, it's not too late to mention it early tomorrow morning." ”

"What do you say? When is it your turn to come up with an idea? Zhao Zhen glared at Huang Peisheng, so frightened that Huang Peisheng quickly kowtowed and confessed, and went to arrange it.

The guards went out in all directions, to the mansions of the major officials overnight to announce the decree, all the civil and military people did not know when, one by one unkempt hurried to the main hall, whispered to each other what happened, after a while, Zhao Zhen always walked out of the hall, followed by Yan Shu and Du Yan, obviously these two were summoned in advance, the faces of the three were different, Zhao Zhen's face was gloomy, Yan Shu's face was anxious, and Du Yan's face sneered.

The ministers knelt down and stood on both sides, and Zhao Zhen said in a dumb voice: "All Aiqing, I called you Aiqing to the court in the middle of the night, and I had no choice, just because when I reviewed and read the folds, I saw a strange article, which is a strange article, and it should be appreciated together, Huang Peisheng, read the excerpt of the brilliant article." ”

The ministers looked at each other, and they called to the court in the middle of the night just to listen to an article, the emperor is too fussy, the emperor rarely tosses people so much, what's wrong?

Huang Peisheng bowed down to take the fold, took a breath and began to read: "The ministers have heard the words of their friends since ancient times, but fortunately, the gentleman and the villain are just the kings. It is natural that a gentleman and a gentleman are friends with the same way, and the villain and the villain are friends with the same interests. ”

The ministers were in an uproar, it turned out to be a matter of friends who were hotly discussed in the court openly and secretly, and the courage of the person who wrote this twist and turn was really not small, and he actually said something like this, 'All gentlemen and gentlemen are friends with the same way, and villains and villains are friends with the same interests, which is also a natural reason.' Isn't this blatant support for a partisan? I don't know who is so bold.

Ouyang Xiu of the crowd didn't know what was going on, but after reading the first paragraph of the article, Ouyang Xiu suddenly found that the culprit of tonight's incident was himself, and it was his own piece of music that touched the emperor's nerve, so he was summoned into the palace overnight.

"However, the minister said that the villain has no friends, but the gentleman does. Why? Those who are favored by villains are also profitable, and those who are greedy are also rich. When it is the same as the benefit, the temporary party is regarded as a friend, and it is also false; and they see the benefits and compete for the first, or the profits are exhausted and the friends are sparse, then the opposite is the thief, although their brothers and relatives cannot protect themselves. Therefore, the minister said that the villain has no friends, and he is temporarily a friend, and he is also a hypocrisy. Not so with gentlemen. Those who keep are moral, those who do are faithful, and those who cherish are honorable. With its self-cultivation, it will benefit from the same way; If you do things, you will work together with one heart; It has always been the same, and this gentleman's friend is also. Therefore, he is a monarch, but when he retreats from the villain's pseudo-friends, and uses the true friends of the gentleman, the world will be governed. ”

"When Yao, the villain worked together, and the four people such as the donkey and the pocket were one friend, and the gentleman eight yuan and eight Kai sixteen people were one friend. Shun Zuoyao, the friend of the four fierce villains, and the friend of the Jinyuan and Kai gentlemen, Yao's world is the great rule. And Shun is the Son of Heaven, and Gao, Kui, Ji, Qi and other twenty-two people are juxtaposed in the court, more commensurate with the United States, more pushing, where twenty-two people are a friend, and Shun is used, the world is also governed. The book says: "There are hundreds of millions of ministers, but hundreds of millions of hearts; Zhou Youchen has three thousand, only one heart. "At the time of the war, hundreds of millions of people had different hearts, which can be said to be not friends, and then they perished the country. The minister of King Wu of Zhou, 3,000 people are a big friend, and Zhou uses it to prosper. When the emperor of the Later Han Dynasty was presented, he was imprisoned by all the famous people in the world, and he was a member of the party. and the Yellow Turban thieves, the Han family was in chaos, the rear repented, and the party members were relieved, but there was no help. In Tang's later years, he gradually became a friend. When Zhaozong, he killed the famous people of the dynasty, or threw himself into the Yellow River, saying: "This generation is clear, and you can cast the turbidity stream." "And Tang died."

"The lord of the husband's previous life can make everyone disagree, not friends, as well; can prohibit good people as friends, as the emperor of the Han Dynasty; can kill the friends of the clear stream, as good as the world of Tang Zhaozong; But they are all in chaos and their kingdoms are destroyed. It is more commensurate with the beauty and concession without self-doubt, such as Shun's twenty-two ministers, Shun also uses it without doubt; However, later generations did not accuse Shun of being deceived by the twenty-two friends, but called Shun a wise sage, so as to be able to distinguish between a gentleman and a villain. In the world of Zhou Wu, 3,000 ministers of his country were a friend, and since ancient times, there were many and big friends, such as Zhou; However, Zhou uses this to prosper, although there are many good people, they are not tired. ”

"Woohoo! The traces of the rise and fall of chaos can be learned from those who are kings. ”

Huang Peisheng finished reading this "Treatise on Friends" without any pause, covered the volume and bowed down to put the fold on the dragon case, and bowed his head and retreated.

Zhao Zhen glanced at the ministers and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, is this a strange article?" I'm not wrong, I didn't expect that there would be someone in my Great Song Dynasty who wrote such an article, which can be described as surging water, and the side is full of talent. ”

How did the ministers not know that Zhao Zhen was sarcastic, and secretly whispered to inquire who it was, so they heard Zhao Zhen continue: "A few days ago, Qian Mingyi Wang Gongchen played that there were people in the court who formed a party to protect each other, and they advanced and retreated together. This shows that what Qian Mingyi and Wang Gongchen played is true, and you do have friends in the court, and I am really shocked. ”

"Your Majesty, dare to ask who is so bold to violate my Great Song Dynasty ancestral teachings and the Holy Edict to correct the name of the party?" Someone asked.

Zhao Zhen sneered: "Who? It is the famous Ouyang Xiu is also. ”

Ouyang Xiu's face turned pale and bowed out, knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "The minister deserves to die, the minister's fallacy has annoyed the emperor, please forgive the emperor." ”

Everyone was shocked, the most shocked were Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi Fubi, the original matter of the friends was to allude to Han Fan and other New Deal factions and others, this Ouyang Xiu was confused, he actually wrote such a thing at this time, and he didn't discuss it beforehand, didn't he take everyone into the pit together?

Zhao Zhen ignored Ouyang Xiu, turned his head to look at Fan Zhongyan and said, "Fan Aiqing, how about you come to evaluate this article?" ”

Fan Zhongyan's scalp was numb, so he had to step forward and arch his hand: "Minister...... Chen drank some wine last night, and now the smell of wine has not subsided, and his mind is confused, and he really doesn't understand what Lord Ouyang said. ”

Zhao Zhen sneered: "I see, Han Aiqing, what about you?" Wouldn't it be that I drank too much and my mind was confused. ”

Han Qi bowed down and said: "Emperor Shengming, I did drink too much last night, that is, Weichen was the east, and the Lord Fan and Lord Fu were invited to drink, and the hangover was not eliminated, so I didn't dare to talk nonsense, and I asked the emperor to forgive me for the rude crimes." ”

Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "Oh? It turned out to be the wine that the three of you drank together, which means that Fu Bi can't say why he came, right? Why did the three of you drink and forget to invite Ouyang Aiqing, this is not enough friends. ”

Han Qi's face turned red, and he straightened his chest and said: "The saint's words are unbearable, and the ministers and other ministers gather for a drink after official business, isn't this allowed?" ”

Zhao Zhen ignored him and said coldly: "Who will analyze this article for me?" It seems that this article seems to be quite reasonable, the affairs of Yao Shun Shang Zhou have been taken as an example by Lord Ouyang, it seems that the imperial court is going to encourage this matter of friends. ”

Du Yan came out of the crowd and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the old minister said a few words. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Say." ”

Du Yan said: "Lord Ouyang's argument about the party is extremely absurd, and the examples cited are also illusory and unverifiable, dare to ask Lord Ouyang, even if as you said, the gentleman and the gentleman form a party, and the villain and the villain form a party, how can you claim that the gentleman's party can withdraw from the villain's party, if the villain's party gains power, isn't it a chaos?" Even if the two can't compete with each other, who will suffer from the two parties? Isn't it the foundation of the imperial court's legal society? are all busy forming parties and eliminating differences, what about political affairs? In addition, if one party gains power to control the government, how can it guarantee the majesty of the emperor? ”

Ouyang Xiu sighed and said: "Du Shumi, you have misunderstood, what I mean is that the gentleman has a friend party and the villain has no friends, they are only temporarily forming a friend party, and they are also false friends. This is not the case with gentlemen: they uphold morality, fulfill faithfulness, and cherish honor. Use these to improve your self-cultivation, then the same interests can complement each other. If you use these to do things for the country, then you can move forward together and be consistent with the same views. As the emperor, as long as he can repel the villain's fake friends and use the gentleman's true friends, then the world can be stable. ”

Du Yan's face turned red, it turned out that he didn't understand the meaning of the article, but he quickly put this little embarrassment in his mind, and asked again: "Joke, the official you said has no clue, are the so-called gentlemen and villains self-proclaimed?" What criteria should be used to judge what is the party of gentlemen and what is the party of villains? You only cite the matter of Yao Shun Shang Zhou, let me ask you, who did not advertise that he was thinking about the country and the people in the previous dynasty, and who did not claim to be an upright gentleman, but what does it look like today? Niu and Li became traitors, made trouble for 40 years, and finally Li Tang was destroyed, and they were all sinners through the ages. ”

Ouyang Xiu protested and said: "Is it a gentleman and the emperor can naturally be in the Ming Dynasty, and the Li Tang monarch is incompetent and incompetent, so naturally there is no way to distinguish between the saints and the Ming Dynasty, how can they not distinguish between loyalty and treachery like them?" ”

Zhao Zhen couldn't bear it anymore and shouted, "Shut up!" Ouyang Xiu, you are too presumptuous! You are using words to hold me hostage, if I agree with your point of view, I am Mingjun, and if I disagree, I am a faint king, right? ”

Ouyang Xiu kowtowed again and again: "The minister doesn't dare, the minister is a sincere word, and the minister has no such intention." ”

Zhao Zhen said with an angry face: "The sage clearly said: 'If you move, you will compete, and if you compete, you will be a friend, and if you are a friend, you will be false, and if you slander, you will be untrue, and the truth will be fake. 'Taizu's last precept: 'The gate of the Sai Peng Party', Taizong once issued an edict 'Ban the Friends Party to force the people'. You have taken these words as wind in your ears, where have you read the books of your sages? What kind of 'true friends and false friends', what kind of 'gentlemen and villains', do you think you can rely on these sophistries to exonerate the crime of friends? Delusions have blinded my hearing and hearing, and I have not yet reached the point of being deceived by others. ”