Lecture hall: Kang Shi's "Rookie" handout

As mentioned in the last lecture, Su Shi went to Beijing in Yingxian to get the top spot in the exam, and Su Shi, who is in his twenties, is about to enter the officialdom and career path. So, will Su Shi, who is just a rookie, become famous in the exam? Will it be smooth sailing in officialdom? He has suffered a lot since ancient times. What are the unique features of Su Shi compared with the literati in history? Is his road to being an official smooth or bumpy? Kang Zhen, an associate professor in the School of Arts of Beijing Normal University, read Su Shi with us and explored his little-known road to being an official. The second episode of the ten-episode series Su Shi is being broadcast, so please pay attention.

Kang Zhen:

What was the name of the first official position that Su Shi actually held in this life? Judging that Fengxiang House in Dali is a bit long. What kind of judge Dali is, that is, the Beijing official in charge of hearing cases. This official is not the official position actually held by Su Shi, but a nominal title and superficial identity. His actual official position is the judge of Fengxiang House who signed the book. Fengxiang House is now Fengxiang City, Shaanxi Province. His official intention is to assist the magistrate of Fengxiang Prefecture, that is, the mayor of Fengxiang City, to handle official duties, which is roughly equivalent to the director of the General Office of Yu Fengxiang Municipal People's Government. Sign a book. The position of director of Fengxiangfu judge's office is not given casually. It requires considerable qualifications. Su Shi can get this position when he first entered the official career in his twenties. As we all know, he became an official because of his excellent performance in the examinations of the Ministry of Justice and the Education Department. Yes, excellent grades give an important position, and then it depends on what you are doing.

Su Shi is the third shot of determinism to start his life, and he will succeed in one fell swoop. But at this time, there is one thing that makes him unable to eat. What happened? He doesn't deal with his immediate boss, and his relationship is very tense. Who is his immediate superior? Chen Gongbi, magistrate of Fengxiang Prefecture and mayor of Fengxiang City. What do you think Su Shi does? He is the chief of staff. He deals with the mayor every day. Isn't it difficult to get along with him? What kind of person is Chen Gongbi, a little black old man? He is as cold as ice, unsmiling and selfless. The princes and adults walked along the wall when they saw him. Young people are scared when they see him. What is Su Shi's personality? His personality is very cheerful, bold and outgoing. I'll tell you what I think, but this Chen Gongbi doesn't care what your first and second are. When old Chen Yi came over, he didn't give this little Asu much surprise. First, when Su Shi took the exam system, there were problems. We know that when you take the exam of this system, it is divided into many types of subjects. What's his name? A noble founder can give advice to the emperor bluntly. Founder with virtue means that the article is well written, the character is very correct, and he can give advice to the emperor. Some people respect Su Shi at the same time, so they respectfully call him Su Xianliang, which is nothing. As soon as we met, Su Xianliang was good. Let Mr. Chen hear you. Mr. Chen said, how old are you? You are very virtuous. I haven't got a Chen Xianliang yet, so you are Su Xianliang. I dragged that Su Xianliang out and spanked him with a board. Then you think Su Shi's face is really embarrassing. Second, in the Northern Song Dynasty, July 15th was designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Traditionally, government mayors, deputy mayors and other officials will hold a dinner on this day to talk about their experiences, feelings and relaxation. Didn't you just drag that guy out and hit the board? Su Shi is unhappy and angry, so I won't go. It doesn't matter if you don't come. If you don't pay, I'll fine you. According to the regulations, if you don't come, I can fine Su Shi eight catties of copper. Everyone was surprised to hear how to punish copper. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were five catties of 1,000 copper coins, eight catties of copper, a dozen abacus and 1,600 copper coins. In fact, there is not much money, but it makes people lose face and is fined before they go to work. Thirdly, Su Shi is famous for writing articles, but this job always involves writing some official documents. Su Shi is also good at writing such official documents, but there is one thing. Every time he writes this document, he gives it to Mayor Chen, who takes it, changes it above, below, left and right, and then finalizes it. Su Shi felt bored. My article was approved by the emperor, and so was Ouyang Xiu, a great writer today. You are a five-pin magistrate, not a scholar. You are revising my article. Isn't this about seniority? You are very unhappy.

Voiceover:

At this time, Su Shi was only in his twenties, full of youthful spirit. Because of his outstanding talent and reputation, even Emperor Renzong appreciated him more, which made Su Shi full of confidence in his future. But Su Shi, who just entered the officialdom, met such a strict boss as Chen Gongbi, and Chen's criticism was unbearable for him. So, in the face of the harsh boss, does he resign or tit for tat?

Kang Zhen:

Do you think Su Shi's love and hate are clearly written on his face? Find a chance to get back at this thin old man to vent his anger. Here comes the opportunity. Although Chen Gongbi is strict with his subordinates, he also knows the truth of relaxation. Once, he built a pavilion in the back garden of the government. This pavilion has been beautifully repaired. Usually, his colleagues have nothing to do, drink some wine, taste tea and exchange work experience with each other. Is this not good? After the table was covered, it was named Lingxutai. Can't Su Xianliang write articles? You can write a composition for us, just write a Record of Terraces in Xu Ling, how to build this terraced field in Xu Ling, what functions it will play, and what role it will play to show the spirit of unity and forge ahead of our government. Let me write the story of Ling Xutai. Ok, no problem. I will definitely write it. See how I write it. How did he write this story about Xu Ling and Taiwan? Let's translate a paragraph for everyone to listen to. He said that everything, including life, is changeable. At first, you heard him say that the place where Lingxutai was built was in ruins. On the other hand, this Lingxutai will become a ruin one day. Look around Lingxutai. The ruins of palaces in past dynasties are no bigger than Lingxutai 100 times. Now they are all in ruins. Su Shi said that architecture is still like this, not to mention the changes of the world. Now some people are complacent about their power and influence, but they don't know that this idea is very wrong. I want to tell you that the development of social history is independent of human will. Stop, it's finished. Of course, he can't directly challenge his immediate boss, but as long as someone with a little brain has a look at this article, he will know that this is Xiao Su's pent-up anger. Through this article, it is like an ironic little arrow shooting at Mr. Chen. What was the reaction of this Mr. Chen when he saw this article? He was very surprised. Mr. Chen, who is usually unsmiling, saw this article and smiled. He said, Ah, Su Shi, a young man, became famous very early. I usually don't give him a good look because I'm worried that such a young person will grow up too smoothly. I don't know that life has setbacks and twists and turns. It will be too smooth if this goes on for a long time. Sooner or later, you will lose control of yourself and do something inappropriate. I just beat him. I didn't expect this little guy to care and have a problem with me. Look at this little article, it is also a fact that social and historical development is not transferred by human will. Chen Gongbi is a strict boss, but his mind is very open. He told his subordinates not to move a word of this article, and the original model was engraved on the stone tablet next to Lingxu Platform, so I let it pass on, so now we can understand the ins and outs of this matter. Many years later, Su Shi recalled the past and regretted it very much. In order to express his respect for Chen Gongbi, he specially wrote a biography for Chen Gongbi. He wrote in his biography that when I was young, I was an official in Fengxiang House, and I often clashed with my boss, Chen Daren, and sometimes my face was ugly. Now I feel really sorry, Su Shi.

Voiceover:

Su Shi was forty-six when he wrote Biography of Chen Gongbi. After many twists and turns, he naturally understood Chen's painstaking efforts, and Su Shi was only 28 years old when he wrote Ling Xutai. His understanding of the world and officialdom should be very emotional. After working in Fengxiang for three years, 30-year-old Su Shi was transferred to the court, only to have a political conflict with Wang Anshi, the prime minister of the dynasty. As a young official, Su Shi dared to offend the prime minister of the dynasty. Isn't that throwing eggs at stones? Why did the fledgling Su Shi confront the Prime Minister?

Kang Zhen:

He was sentenced to three years in Fengxiang House, and when his term of office was up, he was transferred back to the central government to hold an official position called Judge Huang Yuan. What kind of official is this? It is such an institution that is responsible for issuing his credentials to officials. Su Shi was transferred back to the central government as an official. This year, Song Shenzong officially appointed Wang Anshi as political adviser. What is a political adviser? Is the deputy prime minister, specifically responsible for the reform and political reform. We are all familiar with Wang Anshi, but maybe you don't know some background of Wang Anshi's political reform. Let me briefly talk about the background of Wang Anshi's political reform: After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor, drew lessons from the demise of the Tang Dynasty and adopted a series of measures to strengthen centralization. For example, he did not reuse military personnel, but the army was directly controlled by himself, and he reused a large number of civilian personnel. If you reuse civilian officials, you have to invest and raise your salary. Let me give a very simple example to illustrate the heavy financial burden of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time, because the Northern Song Dynasty, including the Southern Song Dynasty, was probably the dynasty with the highest salary for officials in the feudal history of China. What was the salary of a prime minister at that time? Miscellaneous, more than 50 a month in Wan Wen. Everyone says that Wan Wen, who is in his fifties, has no concept. In the Northern Song Dynasty, a barrel of rice was 50 yuan, which was regarded as high-priced rice. How much high-priced rice can this 50 Wan Wen buy? We can work out that 1 10,000 dou is1.20,000 Jin. It is difficult for us to calculate whether our salary can buy1.20 thousand Jin of rice a month. The design of the top floor is very high. Think about it, it will be very high if you go down. This does not include providing hundreds of thousands of silver and hundreds of thousands of silks to his neighbors Xixia and Liao every year in exchange for temporary peace on the border. Then who will bear the burden? Add it to the people. The Northern Song Dynasty at that time was a treasure, but it had to be reformed. At that time, Song Shenzong, who was only 20 years old, succeeded to the throne and was determined to make great efforts to reform and reform. Reform needs a person in charge of major projects, and Song Shenzong's research is focused on Wang Anshi.

Voiceover:

Wang Anshi was an outstanding politician, writer and local official in the Northern Song Dynasty. In order to understand the sufferings of people's livelihood, he repeatedly put forward the idea of political reform, demanding to promote the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages and reduce the burden on the people. His ideas are consistent with those of Song Shenzong. In A.D. 1069, Wang Anshi was appointed as Prime Minister, presiding over the political reform and the political reform. As soon as the curtain of the political reform was opened, it caused a heated debate. Above the imperial court, the new party that advocated political reform and the old party that opposed political reform launched a political struggle, and Su Shi, who had just set foot on his official career, was inevitably caught in the whirlpool of this political struggle. So which side does Su Shi stand on and what kind of attitude does he take towards Wang Anshi's Reform Society?

Kang Zhen:

We say that Su Shi opposes reform and political reform. He is in opposition. Why does he oppose reform and political reform? In short, there should be three main points: first, Su Shi has always believed that the key to political reform lies in the employment system, not in the political reform system itself and the system itself; Secondly, Su Shi advocated gradual reform and opposed stormy reform. He thinks that Wang Anshi's political reform and reform is shock therapy in our current words, and he strongly disagrees. Thirdly, Su Shi has a very close relationship with many ministers who oppose the reform and reform, and these opponents have a very important influence on Su Shi's political attitude and position. So what is Su Shi? He is against reform and political reform. So what is Su Shi's attitude towards Wang Anshi? At that time, in order to actively promote the reform and reform, Wang Anshi wanted to unify everyone's thoughts in ideological and public opinion. Wang Anshi led a group of young people to reinterpret ancient traditional books, and he stipulated that the result of my interpretation was the standard answer of the imperial examination. Su Shi is disgusted with this thing and hates it. At that time, many jokes that Su Shi laughed at Wang Anshi's academic views were true or false, but they were very telling. Wang Anshi invented a philology and reinterpreted some Chinese characters of China, some of which may be meaningful and some may not. Su Shi once asked Wang Anshi how to explain the "waves" of the waves. Wang Anshi said "the skin of water". Isn't that the skin of water? Su Shi went on to say that the "slippery" of skating is not the bone of water, and it makes sense. You can always explain it this way, but we all know that neither skating nor surfing is the original intention. They are all pictophonetic characters. Su Shi made fun of Wang Anshi in this way, in fact, he was laughing at his so-called philology. Of course, these are just some jokes circulated by the people, but there are shadows behind these jokes. Wang Anshi may not care about the damage of these jokes to his academic reputation, but what he really can't tolerate is Su Shi's remarks against political reform. Because Su Shi had great academic influence at that time, he tried his best to minimize his influence.

Voiceover:

According to historical records, Su Shi is not a complete conservative. In fact, he also actively advocated reform. It can be said that Su Shi is no different from Wang Anshi in restricting the powerful people from practicing the political direction of Qiang Bing and other rich countries, but he does not advocate Wang Anshi to adopt tough political means to carry out reforms. In addition, the old party figures represented by Sima Guang, a great scholar, also influenced Su Shi's political stance. So what does the opposition between Su Shi and Wang Anshi mean? Will Su Shi's official career be affected by this?

Kang Zhen:

Song Shenzong twice promoted Su Shi to an important position in the imperial court, which was resolutely rejected by Wang Anshi, a prime minister. In Wang Anshi's view, if you promote him to be an official, especially to be an official beside Song Shenzong, it is not equal to arranging a troublemaker under my nose, so I can't get this reform. He told Song Shenzong that Su Shi was learned, but he was not on the right path. The emperor doesn't have to care too much about this kind of person, and he doesn't have to pay attention to him. In the long run, he talks too much, and Song Shenzong has a bad impression of Su Shi. As we all know, one of the leaders who opposed the political reform at that time, Sima Guang and Song Shenzong, had great respect and trust in Sima Guang. He said to Sima Guang, you said that Su Shi was a person with bad personal qualities, and the emperor said this very seriously. Even so, the reformists spared no effort to attack Su Shi. After a long time, Su Shi felt that if he stayed in this wrong place, he would be in big trouble. If he doesn't get it, he will catch fire. He offered to leave the imperial court, so I don't work here. I went to that place. Instead of fighting with each other all day in this court, I might as well do something really useful for the people. Zong Shen really appreciates Su Shi, but it's no use admiring him. He can't be used for reform, so he must approve his request. Zong Shen's instructions were to send Su Shi to our present Yingzhou, Anhui Province, as a magistrate, that is, as a mayor. However, this approval was changed by the prime minister and became a common sentence in Yingzhou, which is the deputy mayor. I don't say everyone knows what's going on. It's still weird When this batch of documents returns to the Emperor, Song Shenzong will see how to change it into a general sentence. Since it has been changed to a general sentence, it will not be changed. Let's change places and go to Hangzhou to make a general sentence. Well, it's worth it. It is more cost-effective for you to be a deputy mayor in Hangzhou than a mayor in Yingzhou. This is a great job. Why? Hangzhou was an important town in the Northern Song Dynasty and an important post as a judge. The emperor's attitude towards Su Shi was very contradictory. He admires him and wants to use him. However, Su Shi is a thorn in his side on this issue. He is against political reform, against political reform, and can't use it. If he doesn't need it, put it in the local area and want to arrange a suitable position for him.

Voiceover:

Su Shi opposed Wang Anshi's political reform, and the contradiction between Su and Wang has been difficult to reconcile. Faced with this situation, Zongshen cherished Su Shi's talents, but in order to realize his own reform ideas, he could only reluctantly give up what he loved and let Su Shi take a local post. So will Su Shi, who is unable to cope with the political struggle, make a difference when he gets to the place? This time, can he stand the test of going to a place to be a parent?

Kang Zhen:

We said that Su Shi, a successful person in the scientific field, had to accept this test during his eight years working in the local area. Did he succeed or fail in the exam? Li Bai and Du Fu, whom we used to talk about, are great poets and great literati, but they are ineffective in specific administrative positions. Where's Su Shi? After his tenure in Hangzhou expired, he was transferred after three years in accordance with the rules of the court. He served as magistrate in Mizhou, Xuzhou and Huzhou, and later served as full-time. We only look at a typical case. During his eight years working in the local area, his most outstanding achievement was to be a magistrate in Xuzhou. The biggest problem in Xuzhou is the Yellow River flood. When Su Shi first arrived in Xuzhou, he was hit by a flood, which surrounded the city. The water level is as high as 20 feet, which is 10 feet 9 inches higher than the flat land inside the city. A letter of 0.9 inches, can the people's letter bear the gap of 10 feet 9 inches? Especially those rich people, when they heard that they were ten feet nine inches, they wanted to take refuge out of the city, but Su Shi resolutely refused. His slogan is, as long as Su Shi stays out of the water and Xuzhou City is not destroyed, you all go back. It's important to convince these people to go back. Why? Once these rich households and businessmen have moved away, the people of the whole city will fall into chaos. This is the first step and has won the hearts and minds of the people. Secondly, 5,000 civilian workers were urgently mobilized to repair the city wall, which is a very important second step. But you know, you always block him like this after the flood. This is not the fundamental way. What would you do? You must channel it out. How do you guide it? He recruited water conservancy experts to open a cold corner in the north of Xuzhou, and then he tried to gradually lead the water to the old course of the Yellow River, then to the old course of the Yellow River and then to the sea. This is the way to stop it, or you will mobilize100000 people. You should know that Xuzhou is well known. He is the number one leader. He should make specific decisions and organize their implementation. This is a great test for Su Shi, and it is not an ordinary thing, and it is vital. After being besieged for more than 70 days, the flood finally diverted to the old course of the Yellow River. Su Shi has been wearing a hat, hemp fiber and leaning on a wooden stick for more than 70 days, and it is very difficult to pull wooden shoes with drawers. This is outstanding in Xuzhou city. In fact, we talk about his flood fighting and emergency rescue work in Xuzhou, which is only a small aspect of Su Shi's eight-year local administrative work. For example, when you were in Hangzhou, six local wells collapsed because of disrepair, and the draught became a big problem. Su Shi and other officials discussed and repaired the well and did a lot of work. We can say that the practice of these eight years proves that Su Shi is not only a good official, but also a good official who cares for the people everywhere. This is the first premise, and he is also a capable and good official. You may ask, does Su Shi still write poems after eight years of heavy administrative work? We are particularly concerned about his writing poems. We have never heard of fighting floods and saving lives, but we have heard of many poets. It should be said that it is precisely because he went out of the capital to a place, broadened his horizons and exercised his thoughts and feelings that his poems were written better.

We know that there is a saying that "there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below". Hangzhou City is so beautiful that Su Shi has enough time to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Hangzhou, especially the beautiful West Lake. He wrote in the poem:

The water is bright and sunny, and the mountains are cloudy and rainy.

If there are more dead beauties in the West Lake, C+ is so appropriate.

-drink the rain after the lake is clear.

This poem is so well written. Why? When we think of the West Lake, we instinctively think of this poem, which has become an instinctive reflection of our imagination of the West Lake. When the weather is clear, the West Lake is so bright and beautiful, just like a beautiful woman with heavy makeup; On rainy days, she is still so ethereal, just like a woman with light makeup. No matter how much makeup the West Lake is, it will always be as perfect in the poet's mind. So later we learned that the West Lake also has a name called Xizi Lake, which comes from Su Shi's poems, so you said that a great poet will create a new scenic spot if he is not careful.

We can say that the fledgling Su Shi is not only a popular official, but also a capable and good official. Even after work, he can still express his literary feelings very freely. He is cute, humorous and detached, which is the charm of Su Shi. Now Su Shi is going to another new post, which is the second year of Yuanfeng in Song Shenzong, that is, A.D. 1079. At the age of 44, Su Shi transferred to Huzhou. When he came to Huzhou with his wife and children, he never dreamed that a huge nightmare would accompany him to Huzhou. So who did Su Shi offend? What kind of disaster has it suffered? If you want to know what will happen next, listen to the next chapter.