Chapter 1090: Mr. Fan Wenzheng

It was a rainy day, not too rainy, refreshing. It took away the summer heat and brought the autumn chill.

It was also a good day for moving.

The time for moving was set in advance, not on a whim. It rained a little today, but it didn't affect anything. Even if it rained heavily... we would definitely choose a good day.

The Imperial College in the imperial city was busy early in the morning, and found many carriages to load all the things in the yamen. The future Imperial College yamen will be at the academy outside the east city.

After a year of construction, a large amount of manpower and material resources were mobilized, and the previous academies were considered to have completed preliminary construction. But it was only preliminary construction, reaching the level of usability. The construction will continue in the future. After all, there are many functional buildings, many people in the activities, and the scale of the buildings is naturally large, and Wang Yan has also added some spectacular construction. At the current construction speed, it would take at least three to five years to complete the construction...

Wang Yan stood under the eaves to avoid the rain, watching the officials in the yamen busy with the students, very relaxed.

At this moment, several eunuchs hurried in.

"Mr. Wang, the emperor has ordered you to go to the Prince of Runan's mansion to check on the prince."

Wang Yan put his hands behind his back and asked with a smile: "What happened to the prince?"

The eunuch said: "The prince couldn't eat or drink the day before yesterday, and the imperial physician also saw him, but there was nothing he could do. Mr. Wang is a skilled doctor, and even the great doctors of the Imperial Hospital are ashamed of themselves. So the emperor asked me to come and pass on the order, asking you to go to the Prince's mansion to check on him."

"I know, I'll go now."

"Then trouble you to go, and we'll go back to the palace to report." The eunuch politely bowed to Wang Yan, and led people away from the Imperial College Yamen, which was about to become a thing of the past.

Wang Yan explained some more matters, and then he set off to the Prince's Mansion.

At this moment, the Prince's Mansion felt sad as soon as he entered it.

The servants in the mansion walked quickly and lightly, with their heads down. The Prince's Mansion, which used to be more orderly, now looked very chaotic, and people were in a state of flux. Even Wang Yan had come here many times, but he didn't see many female relatives, who were all walking around outside.

Being led all the way to the backyard, Wang Yan met Zhao Zongshi and Zhao Zhongzhen who was sitting next to him. Both father and son were very silent, silently looking at the people who cared about them.

"Meet the general, the prince." Without Zhao Zongshi asking, Wang Yan said, "The emperor has ordered me to come and see the Prince."

Zhao Zongshi nodded: "Please."

Wang Yan bowed his hands, turned around and went into the bedroom.

Zhao Yunrang's bedroom was not very big, but there were many people in it, a bunch of women and children were crying here. There were too many people gathered in the room, and the windows were not open, so the air was not very good when entering the door. It was not a disgusting smell, but the fragrance of rouge and powder, which could make people dizzy. It can't be said that this smell is very fragrant.

Zhao Yunrang lay on the couch, opened his eyes and looked straight at the ceiling, not paying attention to the buzzing in the room.

Wang Yan cleared his throat, and seeing that people's eyes were on him, he waved his hand: "Get out."

"You..."

"Get out!" Without waiting for others to talk nonsense with Wang Yan, Zhao Yunrang shouted angrily, still very strong.

The group of people in the room didn't dare to say anything more, looked at Wang Yan a few times, and walked out in a swarm.

Wang Yan walked over and opened the window, and then sat down on the low stool beside the couch.

Zhao Yunrang chuckled: "Did Zhao Shouyi ask you to come and see if I'm dead?"

"Let me treat the prince."

"Hey..." Zhao Yunrang smacked his lips and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm directly on the ground, "Zi Yan, do you think I'm sick?"

"I'm dying soon, why should the prince be so stubborn?"

This is the situation the two had talked about before. The current situation is very clear. As long as Zhao Yunrang dies, Zhao Zongshi will be canonized as the prince. After a lot of twists and turns, it's back to the original history.

Who can be blamed for this? If you want to blame someone, blame Zhao Zhen for not being obedient and not having the ability. The palace is so big, he can't control it. He just abstains from sex for half a year, conserves his energy and accumulates water, in order to better reproduce his true nature, but he can't control it. So Zhao Zhen can't blame others for coming to this point, he can only blame himself.

Zhao Yunrang laughed and asked, "Do you think there is still hope for me?"

Wang Yan also laughed, "You are asking for mercy, but the prince is asking for death, why are you saying such things? It's just starving yourself to death, it's too painful."

"There is no other way, I can't die too quickly, and I can't die too well... Zi Yan, do you have a solution?"

"No. Even if I have a solution, I can't give it to the prince. The general will become the emperor in the future, and I still have work to do. What if someone knows about this and digs up my story and says that I poisoned the prince? How can I be a student? Aren't you going to accompany the prince early?"

"You are telling me something from your heart because I am about to die?"

"I always tell the truth."

"Then tell me, when will my son ascend the throne?"

"I still can't tell you." Wang Yan smiled and shook his head, "When the general reaches his old age, the prince will ask me about it. What should I do?"

"Humph, if you don't want to tell me, he won't live long anyway, only three to five years. I will go first and wait for him." Zhao Yunrang was of course not convinced by Zhao Zhen.

He waved his hand and asked, "You are an expert in medicine, do you know how many days he can live without food or drink?"

"You can live for half a month without food, but only seven days without water."

"How do you know?"

"When I was in the northwest, I asked the doctor who accompanied the army to test the captured Xixia officers. They died in a miserable state with emaciated bodies."

"Are you trying to scare me? I have been trapped in this capital for my whole life. I am tired of delicacies, fine wine, and beautiful women. I have never become an emperor in this life. My thoughts are not clear. Fortunately, my son can succeed, which can be regarded as a wish come true..."

There are unfinished meanings in Zhao Yunrang's words, but his attitude is very firm. He just wants to die. In fact, at this point, he has to die.

He let out a long breath and said, "You are now a great scholar in the country, a great literary master. You said you would write a poem for me to praise me. Now I am dying, so please write me a eulogy this time."

"Write it when you return home tonight and have someone send it to the prince to read."

"How can a living person read an eulogy written for himself? I won't read it! It's the same if you go down and read it. Go away." Zhao Yunrang waved his hand in disdain.

"Have a good journey, prince."

Wang Yan stood up, bowed solemnly, then looked at Zhao Yunrang and turned away.

Zhao Yunrang looked at the roof again, and he sighed for a long time...

Zhao Zhen asked Wang Yan to come and treat Zhao Yunrang, and asked Wang Yan to endorse the book. Zhao Yunrang died of illness, not because of any other reason. Although qualified ministers in the court knew it, and unqualified officials also understood it, his endorsement was not for them to see, but was recorded in history for future generations to see, to protect the reputation of Zhao Zhen and Zhao Zongshi.

Wang Yan did what he said, and wrote a memorial to Zhao Yunrang that night, and had it sent to the Prince's Mansion the next morning. Zhao Yunrang still couldn't hold it back, read it himself, and replied to Wang Yan that it was well written!

Half a month later, the Prince's Mansion sent a letter saying that Zhao Yunrang was dead.

Wang Yan attended the funeral and sent another memorial on the spot, and then there was no more, the person was dead, what else could there be.

A month after Zhao Yunrang's death, Zhao Zongshi was made the crown prince and served as the prefect of Kaifeng. At this time, the huge Prince's Mansion had been demolished to pieces, and the people had dispersed. Old Zhao had many sons, and this time they all divided the family. Zhao Zongshi also brought his wife and children, and the whole family moved into the palace.

At present, one of the two major issues of the Song Dynasty has been resolved, so the other issue that has been on the agenda for a long time will naturally proceed simultaneously.

The previous fight against Xixia did not cost the Song Dynasty, which had become rich and had sufficient money and food, any price, and could still support the war expenses. So after the autumn harvest, the war had already started in the north.

The situation of Khitan was not much better than that of Xixia. It was true that there were many people and soldiers, but the internal situation was also very chaotic and the internal consumption was very severe. They were beaten out of the Great Wall and lost a lot of population. Although the father and son of Yelu Chongyuan, who rebelled, still had the power to barely maintain their ruling position, they could not unite and concentrate their forces to play the organizational advantages. The internal strife was just as serious, and they were all trying to seize power and profit from each other.

The power of Yelu Chongyuan and his son was barely enough to maintain their ruling position, so the people who were ruled naturally began to listen to the announcement but not the instructions. Whatever they said was right, they would never do anything.

After all, the remaining Khitans were foreign tribes with tribal systems, such as Khitan and Mongolia, and they did not have a strong sense of identity with the central court. When everyone can happily win the battle and share the fruits together, it is naturally invincible. But now we can't win, but we are beaten out. The original big plate was beaten half, and there are still so many people to share the benefits.

This has caused everyone to work for themselves, and no one works for their collective interests.

It has been five years since they were beaten out of the Great Wall. These five years are enough for them to collapse. What's more, the northwest and the grassland have been conscientiously implementing the strategy set by Wang Yan over the years, and constantly weakening the Khitan. The current Khitan is not much stronger than Xixia.

If we divide it again and promise some benefits to some people, it will be even simpler.

The emperor and ministers of the Song Dynasty have been eager to fight, waiting for this unprecedented achievement to make the Song Dynasty even greater!

So one year after the destruction of Xixia, in the autumn of the fifth year of Jiayou, the Song Dynasty assembled 400,000 troops and launched an attack on the Khitan from the west and north.

I don't want to win in one battle. After all, the winter in the north is too cold, and the army will consume a lot of energy in the war. The initiative of the war is in the hands of the Song Dynasty. In this case, it is not worth the loss to fight the Khitan, which is doomed to be destroyed.

So we started fighting after the autumn harvest. When winter comes, the army can't stand the cold, so we retreat and stay in the nest. When the spring thaws, we will continue to fight before the spring plowing. After the spring plowing, we will continue to fight.

In short, the war is normalized, and we will fight the Khitan whenever we have time. In this way, it will not take a few years for the Khitan to be defeated.

Wang Yan has always been a man of action. He has always been generous to his subordinates who come close to him. So this time, attacking the Khitan and fighting on a regular basis will be a great achievement. So he sent Gu Tingye, who had just married, to the northwest to fight with his old subordinates and make progress together.

His own life was no different. Anyway, he was not given any other tasks, so he was pressed to death in the position of the Imperial College. He was not in a hurry and just steadily made some small changes. One or two might not be noticeable, but if there were too many changes it would be a subversion.

The academies outside the capital are improving little by little, and the number of students is increasing day by day. The commercial streets built along with the universities have also changed from empty at first to crowded with tourists.

This is the power of time. As long as you manage it carefully on the right path, time will not let down those who have expectations for it. But time is not so popular because it makes people mature and makes them grow old.

In the spring of Jiayou's seventh year, it took more than a year. Although the Khitan was not completely destroyed, it was able to defeat the Khitan regime and turn it into a complete mess. The territory of the Song Dynasty also expanded to the entire grassland area and also expanded to the northeastern region.

The war is over when it reaches this point. War is a means, not an end. The remaining Khitan people are already in decline. They want to rely on the trade of the Song Dynasty to survive, which is already controlled by the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty also implemented Wang Yan's policy towards ethnic minorities. Although it was indeed better for ethnic minorities, it was an effective method. In all the past wars, the foreign soldiers recruited by Wang Yan played a significant role. And after being content with production, it did increase output and prosper the economy. These are clear data and visible growth.

Zhao Zhen also fulfilled his wish and completed the unfinished work of his ancestors. As for the remaining Dali and Jiaozhi, he was powerless. He had given up the idea of ​​beating them and began to rest on his laurels and wait for death.

His condition has worsened over the past two years, and his physical condition has deteriorated rapidly. Wang Yan showed it to him, and he basically ran out of oil and died.

Compared with Zhao Zhen, Fan Zhongyan, who fought for the Song Dynasty all his life, truly reached the end of his life.

Fan Zhongyan, lying on the bed in Fan Mansion, looked in good spirits. There was no one else in the room, only Fan Chunren and Wang Yan.

He smiled at Wang Yan and said, "You have been sitting on the bench for several years, do you have any complaints?"

"Of course not. It's not like you can't do things in the Imperial College."

"It's true. The Imperial College is getting better and better under your hands." Fan Zhongyan said, "Actually, I agree with letting you stay in the Imperial College. A tree that is as beautiful as the forest wind will destroy it. Your contribution is too great, and It’s not good to be too young.”

"Students understand Mr. Fan's painstaking efforts. It is much better to teach safely in the Imperial College than to bring down the whole family."

"You understand."

Fan Zhongyan shook his head, smiled, and sighed: "I have gone through many ups and downs in my life, but speaking of it, I have lived the best in the last ten years. However, I also know that the results of today's reform are superficial and far from good. The fundamentals have not been touched upon. But after destroying Xixia and Khitan, I will see that the Song Dynasty becomes prosperous and powerful. I will have enough to do in this life, and I will have to rely on you in the future.

I think the official's health has not been very good these past two years. When the new king comes to the throne, you, Wang Ziyan, will definitely be put in a prominent position. I have to tell you one more thing: be steady in your work and never rush for success. Although you have never failed in your actions, you are too dangerous and leave no room for it. Humans can't be careful about everything. If you don't pay attention to anything, you will lose your life. You are in your prime and have plenty of time, so take your time in everything. "

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Fan Gong taught students that they must be careful in the future."

"Okay, that's all I have to say to you. When Prince Runan passed away earlier, you wrote a memorial to him. I thought it was very good. I heard that he even read it himself? Your Wang Ziyan is also a great scholar now. Please write a memorial to me. Write an article too. I can take another look. If you are not satisfied, I will scold you. Okay, I have seen you. I have no regrets in this life. It's great. You can go and see me off tomorrow... …”

Fan Zhongyan waved his hands with a smile. The so-called master knows his destiny. He has already summarized his life and he also understands death very clearly. What's more, he lived for ten more years, did many great things, was satisfied, had no regrets in this life, and faced death calmly. And handed over the baton to make the Song Dynasty even greater into the hands of Wang Yan.

"Students bid farewell to Mr. Fan!"

Wang Yan stood up and saluted respectfully and solemnly.

Fan Zhongyan raised his hand with a smile: "Go, go, let me talk to my family. Chunren, send me Ziyan."

"Zi Yan, let's go." Fan Chunren stood up with red eyes.

Wang Yan took one last deep look, turned around and walked out of the house with Fan Chunren.

"Okay, brother Yaofu, please send him here." Wang Yan patted Fan Chunren on the shoulder.

"Thank you so much, brother Ziyan. If it weren't for you, my father wouldn't be where he is today."

"Fan Gong treated me very well. I am a disciple, so there is no need for you to thank me. Go back quickly."

After saying that, Wang Yan turned around and left swaying with his hands behind his back.

Fan Zhongyan's passing is just the beginning. Those people back then are all old now, and they will leave one after another in the next ten years or so. This is something that no one can escape. But without these people, the Song Dynasty would be a bit boring.

Of course, Wang Yan didn't have much sadness. Although Lao Fan left, some of his emotions inevitably overflowed, but it was not a big deal. He had seen too much life and death, and he had already become numb.

He is a person who has escaped birth, old age, illness and death to a certain extent, but he has also lost a lot...

When he returned to his house, the first thing he did was to write a memorial poem. In thousands of words, he wrote about Fan Zhongyan's life and praised Fan Zhongyan's achievements. After writing it, he was sent to Fan Zhongyan for reading. He replied that Fan Zhongyan was very happy, laughed out loud, and spoke highly of it.

The next day, Wang Yan received the news from Fan Mansion that Fan Zhongyan had passed away, and he went to see him off.

In the next half month, Fan Zhongyan's posthumous affairs were gradually settled.

He was given the title of Grand Master, posthumously named Duke of Chu, and given the posthumous title of Wenzheng, and was allowed to be worshipped in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Fan Zhongyan is gone...

Thanks to (Yihuanerfengchen) for giving 500 coins for continued support.

I would like to thank the good brothers who voted for the monthly ticket, recommended ticket, and read the book silently for their strong support!