Chapter 2195: Renzong Chronicles 4: Chancellor Fan Holds the Reins, Barely Holding On

"Fan Xiwen is returning to the capital!"

In the late spring of the sixth year of Zhengtong, in the capital of the Great Han, such exclamations and discussions were especially numerous, and only when the man himself arrived in the capital did they finally quiet down. Clearly, the true sentiment of the capital's powerful and noble was: Fan Xiwen is about to become Director of State Affairs...

Setting out from Jiangling and heading north, the journey was not particularly long, yet Fan Zhongyan took over a month to complete it. The key lay not in the time, but in the mood of the journey. One must know that on any previous occasion, upon hearing the sovereign's summons, he had traveled day and night, rushing to the capital to report on his duties and demonstrate his loyalty.

But this time, besides the reserve befitting a civil official, an elder statesman, and a renowned minister, there was also his inner hesitation and unease—perhaps a bit of affectation, but had he not truly valued and cherished this from the bottom of his heart, how could it have come to this?

Along the northward journey, the bureaucrats and powerful figures along the way swarmed toward him like flies drawn to honey. Fan Zhongyan could neither block them nor brush them off—one might say he was endlessly vexed.

Even unmoved by them, Fan Zhongyan was worn to exhaustion, for he deeply understood that however attentive and kind these faces were now, they could become just as ferocious and terrifying in the future.

Traveling north all the way, when he reached Longmen Post Station south of Luoyang, people had already come out dozens of li from the capital to welcome him... It was also at Longmen Post Station that Fan Zhongyan received a piece of grievous news—an obituary. His close friend Teng Zongliang had died of illness on his way to take up his post in Suzhou.

Teng Zongliang, courtesy name Zijing, had also passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Duangong. Under the halo of Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Cai Qi, and others, he was not particularly outstanding, and for a time could only be regarded as Fan Zhongyan's follower.

In his early years, when Fan Zhongyan first bore great responsibility, being assigned by Emperor Shizong to oversee the construction of coastal sea dikes in Huaidong, Teng Zongliang served as his assistant. Later, when Fan Zhongyan was promoted to Salt and Iron Commissioner and presided over the rectification and reform of the salt administration, Teng Zongliang also served as Administrative Assistant, obeying orders and assisting, devoting himself wholeheartedly to his duties with considerable achievements.

Thereafter he held various posts in many places, and because of his connection to Fan Zhongyan, he was repeatedly promoted and demoted, yet in every post he was praised for his incorruptible conduct, diligent governance, and love for the people. His most recent outstanding achievement was in Yuezhou, a major prefecture in Hubei. Although he did not rebuild the Yueyang Tower, in the "Record of Yueyang Tower," Fan Zhongyan still made mention of Teng Zongliang's achievements in governing Yuezhou...

To Fan Zhongyan, Teng Zongliang was not merely a close friend and bosom companion, but a fellow traveler on the same path. Receiving such grievous news at this critical moment of entering the capital was truly a heavy blow to Fan Zhongyan.

Even though his ambition to serve the state was already as firm as iron and stone, he could not help but be deeply grieved. On this spring rain night, amid tears and weeping, Fan Zhongyan wrote another new ci poem—"Butterflies in Love with Flowers: A Night's Stay at Longmen."

Fan Zhongyan was not only a politician and a capable official of the court, but also a man of letters. For a long time after entering officialdom, his literary talent was not particularly prominent, and most of the essays, poems, ci, and political commentaries that have been passed down were written after he turned fifty.

This situation was clearly related to the political environment and social background Fan Zhongyan found himself in. One must know that from his youth to his prime, Fan Zhongyan had been in the most prosperous period of the Great Han Empire, especially the Yongxi era, which could be called the empire's clearest and most enlightened age. Having first received the favor of Emperor Taizong and set his aspirations in his youth, it could be said to be the beginning of his life's ideals and pursuits.

When Shizong succeeded to the throne, Fan Zhongyan passed the jinshi examination and entered officialdom. By good fortune, he received Shizong's regard and promotion, rising rapidly over some twenty years, and was constantly busy with affairs of state, until step by step he became a leading figure among the commoner officials.

It could be said that before the age of fifty was the brightest and most valuable period of Fan Zhongyan's life—serving the state and the people with utter devotion, continuing all the way through his tenure in Longyou.

And that period happened to be a major turning point in Emperor Shizong's twenty-seven-year reign. The series of succession struggles and political infighting triggered by the early death of Crown Prince Zhangde led to chaos in court politics and murky atmosphere. Such circumstances naturally made it easier to provoke the lamentations and worries of loyal and benevolent men of ambition like Fan Zhongyan.

When Shizong passed away and the young imperial grandson Liu Weizhen ascended the throne, truly entering a turning point at the peak of the Great Han Empire—watching the revived corrupt ministers and malpractices in the court of Luoyang, watching the empire slide down the slope...

Against such a backdrop, with Fan Zhongyan's abundant talent and full measure of loyalty, accompanied by a jug of sorrowful wine, it could often transform into a mellow and fragrant piece of poetry or prose.

The Emperor clearly placed great hopes on Fan Zhongyan's return and was extremely thoughtful in his courtesies. Upon learning that he was nearing the capital, he specially dispatched the head palace eunuch Shi Quanbin to lead imperial guards, with the ceremonial honors of a Duke, to welcome him ten li outside the city.

Faced with such favor, it would be impossible not to be moved. More crucially, even though he harbored reservations about Emperor Liu Weizhen, after such a display, he ultimately gained a few more measures of confidence.

And Liu Weizhen indeed valued Fan Zhongyan greatly. After he entered the city, he specially arranged for him to bathe and change clothes in the imperial bathhouse of the Han Palace, bestowed upon him a purple-gold qilin robe and a Hetian jade crown, and personally received him at Chongzheng Hall.

For this meeting, the Emperor at least on the surface attached sufficient importance, and beforehand, Fan Zhongyan had prepared a bellyful of loyal words and good counsel to report to Liu Weizhen.

However, the meeting between sovereign and minister was not long—at least the time spent discussing affairs of state was not long. After only a round of polite exchange, Emperor Liu Weizhen formally issued an edict appointing Fan Zhongyan as Director of State Affairs of the Great Han, with overall charge of state governance.

It was rather at the subsequent imperial banquet that Liu Weizhen spoke more, when discussing food and drink. This situation made Fan Zhongyan extremely uncomfortable. Liu Weizhen was not unaware of Fan Zhongyan's temperament, and knew that such behavior would provoke the old Chancellor's displeasure. Perhaps he merely wanted to use such means to express his attitude: I have handed the affairs of state to you—do not trouble me with other mundane matters...

In fact, Liu Weizhen had already shown Fan Zhongyan sufficient respect. One must know that in order to receive him, Liu Weizhen had even declined an outing with his Noble Consort for a spring excursion. Liu Weizhen was clearly a romantic Son of Heaven. In the current Han Palace, not to mention three thousand beauties, there were always three to four hundred, and by the sixth year of Zhengtong, consorts with formal titles already numbered thirty-seven.

Among them, the most favored was Noble Consort Han, who nearly rivaled Empress Cao. Noble Consort Han's background was naturally not simple—she was the granddaughter of Han Chengjun, the Jianlong-era Chancellor.

In the present day, a hundred years after the empire's founding, after round after round of reshuffling, the empire's meritorious nobility had undergone earth-shaking changes. The circle of top-tier powerful families was growing smaller and smaller. Those who continued to remain at the center of imperial power and still maintained strong influence over state affairs numbered only a dozen or twenty families—these had been sifted out through a hundred years of turbulent history and shifting winds.

The rest, whether due to lack of successors, wrong positions taken, or major political missteps, had begun their decline even before the Great Han Empire itself...

Many once-prominent meritorious families had fallen silent or even declined, some left with only an empty title of nobility, and some families, due to poor management, had even begun selling off ancestral property to make ends meet.

And the arrival of the Zhengtong era was a stroke of good fortune for all the empire's nobility. Because the pressure from imperial authority was greatly reduced, even those fallen noble families were able to "make a comeback" and "revive their family enterprises."

Then a question arises: the Zhengtong era is the spring of civil officials, the age of commoner clans, and the nobility also usher in a revival—so, with a limited cake, whose winters are the springs of the powerful built upon?

After Fan Zhongyan became Chancellor, the series of reforms (and improvements) he launched across the empire's politics, economy, military, and many other fields were all aimed at answering this question, although in the end it was proven that this question had no solution!

And just a few days after Fan Zhongyan became Chancellor, a trouble came knocking. The Prince of Guangling, Liu Jizhen, forcibly stormed into the Hall of State Affairs, accusing the Governor of Luoyang, Bao Zheng, of ten major crimes including contempt for the imperial house, insulting an imperial uncle, and abusing official power, demanding that Fan Zhongyan dismiss and punish him...

Under the correction of history, Bao Zheng, "Lord Bao," continued to shine in the imperial court. Moreover, because of his credentials from the College of Law and Governance, his position as a close minister of Shizong, and even a teacher-student relationship with Emperor Liu Weizhen, his prestige within the court was even higher than in official history.

Becoming Governor of Luoyang at the age of forty-five was an extremely rare achievement in the current Great Han Empire. One must know that throughout the realm, the vast majority of bureaucrats following the normal promotion path—even those who were outstanding and not lacking in luck—could at this age mostly only reach the level of an ordinary prefecture.

Even Fan Zhongyan only became Chief Chancellor when he was nearly sixty, and only under circumstances of major upheaval in the court. One can imagine

how severe the "aging" problem was among the upper echelons of the powerful in the current Great Han Empire.

And Bao Zheng, this "young man," after assuming the post of Governor of Luoyang, quickly gained the reputation of "Bao the Clear Sky," for two reasons: he did not fear the powerful and noble, and he pleaded for the people.

Against the backdrop of strengthened legal construction during the reigns of Taizong and Shizong, the litigation master profession across the country flourished rapidly, and in the capital there also appeared a group of "great litigators" who specialized in handling lawsuits for the wealthy and noble households. These people could be said to command wind and rain, capable of anything.

However, since Bao Zheng assumed the post of Governor of Luoyang, the "loss rate" of these people had plummeted, and later, upon hearing that Bao the Clear Sky was personally presiding over a case, they would rush to advise the "parties involved" to cut their losses first...

The Prince of Guangling, Liu Jizhen, was the fourth son of Emperor Shizong, initially enfeoffed as Duke of Guangling, and promoted to Prince after Liu Weizhen succeeded the throne. Among the current imperial clan of the Great Han, the older generation basically had only one remaining figure—Prince Xu, Liu Yao, who had served as Director of the Secretariat for nearly thirty years and played a prominent role in stabilizing the empire's court situation.

After Prince Yan, Liu Zhao, passed away, he also concurrently held the post of Chief of the Imperial Clan, and only in recent years, due to advanced age, did he step down from the position of Director of the Secretariat to devote himself entirely to clan affairs. Following imperial clan convention, Liu Weizhen then appointed his second uncle, Prince of Anyang, Liu Jide, as Director of the Secretariat. However, by Liu Jide's time, although the authority and function of the Director of the Secretariat were still maintained, due to the man himself, they had gradually declined.

Liu Jizhen relied solely on his imperial kinship, and was ordinarily fairly well-behaved, but the "storming the hall" incident at the very time Fan Zhongyan first assumed the post of Chief Chancellor naturally had its behind-the-scenes instigators. However, he himself did indeed bear a grudge against Bao Zheng, because his son-in-law, for privately trafficking salt and tea and causing deaths, had been arrested by Bao Zheng and sentenced to death in open court.

Beforehand, setting aside pride, Liu Jizhen had humbled himself and begged, hoping Bao Zheng would show leniency and at least spare his life. In the end, "Lord Bao" was highly principled and showed no flexibility whatsoever—before Liu Jizhen could reach the Emperor, he had already sentenced his son-in-law to death.

There is another background here: among the local government offices of the Great Han Empire, only the two prefectures of Luoyang and Kaifeng had death sentences pronounced in open court that were virtually impossible to overturn. This was an extremely important source of authority for the governors of these two prefectures, and it also meant that these two prefectures could not easily pronounce death sentences, achieving a balancing effect.

Therefore, when Bao Zheng's judgment took effect, the only one who could save the Prince of Guangling's son-in-law was basically the Emperor. However, would the current Emperor challenge political unwritten rules for a "son-in-law of a princess" whose crimes were fully proven?

Back to Fan Zhongyan's side—after understanding the full story, he unhesitatingly chose to support Bao Zheng. However, facing the relentless Liu Jizhen, to avoid the situation becoming too ugly on the surface, he ultimately invited the Chief of the Imperial Clan, Prince Xu, Liu Yao, to come forward, and had Liu Jizhen confined to his residence for three months, bringing the matter to a close.

But this incident also became the beginning of Chancellor Fan's struggle and battle against the lawless nobility inside and outside the court, as well as the stubborn and powerful conservative factions. Similar incidents were endless throughout Fan Zhongyan's entire tenure in governance, and each time they could exhaust Fan Zhongyan both mentally and physically.

Fan Zhongyan was a man who yearned to do things and was capable of doing things, but when a large portion of his energy had to be consumed by internal court frictions, all his efforts for the Great Han Empire could only be reduced to barely holding on...