Yan Shu

Yan Shu

Yan Shu (1991 - February 27, 1055), whose name is Tongshu, was born in Linchuan, Fuzhou (now Jiangxi). Politicians and writers in the Northern Song Dynasty.

At the age of 14, Yan Shu entered the exam as a child prodigy. He was granted Jinshi background and was appointed secretary Zhengzi. In the second year of Tianxi (1018), he was elected as a member of the royal family, and later moved to the crown prince. He served as zhizhigao and Hanlin scholars, and was appreciated by Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty because he was careful and confidential. After song Renzong ascended the throne, he advised empress dowager Liu to listen to politics behind the curtain, and taught Renzong the book of changes in Chongzheng Hall. At one time, he was promoted to the Privy Deputy envoy. Later, because of offending empress dowager Liu, he went out to know Ying Tianfu. In local Daxing schools, we should cultivate talents. After Renzong was in power, he was even more favored. Finally, he became the prime minister by worshipping the great scholar of Jixian hall, the Zhangshi of Tongping and the secret envoy. In his later years, he came to know Chenzhou, Xuzhou, Yongxing army and other places, and was granted the title of Linzi Duke. In 1055, Yan Shu died in Kaifeng at the age of 65. He was given the title of "Yuanxian" by Sikong and Shizhong.

Yan Shu wrote CI in the literary world, especially good at Xiaoling, with implicit and graceful style. He and his seventh son Yan Jidao are called "Da Yan" and "Xiao Yan", and they are also called "Yan Ou" together with Ouyang Xiu. Later generations respected him as "the first ancestor of Yisheng family in the Northern Song Dynasty"; he was also good at poetry and prose, and his articles were "believed by the world". The original anthology has been lost. The surviving works include Zhuyu Ci, Yan Yuanxian's posthumous writings and Lei Yao.

Life of the characters

Early and wise

Yan Shu was born in the second year of Chunhua (1991). He was smart and studious when he was a child. He was able to write articles at the age of seven, known as "prodigy". After hearing about Yan Shu's reputation, he recommended him to the imperial court as a child prodigy in the first year of Jingde (1004). In the second year of Jingde (1005), Yan Shu and more than one thousand Jinshi took part in the palace examination together. He looked fearless and quickly completed the examination paper. He was praised by Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty and was granted Jinshi origin. According to the continuation of Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, the prime minister Kou Zhun discriminated against Jiangnan people and wanted to suppress Yan Shu. Zhenzong said, "the only way for the imperial court to choose a scholar is to ask for it. Is it possible to be famous all over the world? For example, in the former generation of Zhang Jiuling, how could they have abandoned them for being humble? " (however, according to xiangshanyelu, Kou Zhun highly praised Yan Shu when he was in yingtianfu, which is different from the saying.) after two days, he had to take the examination of poetry, Fu and theory. Yan Shu said, "I have done these questions before. Please test them with other questions." His sincerity and talent were appreciated by the real sect, and he was given the title of secretary to study in the secret Pavilion. He studied hard, made friends and was praised by Chen Pengnian of Zhishi Museum. In the third year of Jingde (1006), Yan Shu was called to try in Zhongshu, and later he was transferred to Taichang temple to serve as Li Lang.

Be careful to get the secret

In the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1008), Yan Shu was transferred to Guanglu temple as the leader of Jixian school because of Zhenzong's East sealing of Mount Tai. Because of his father's death, he returned to Linchuan (now Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province) to mourn. Before the end of the mourning period, he was recalled to his post and went to the Taiqing palace with Zhenzong to offer sacrifices. Later, Baoxun was compiled in accordance with the imperial edict. Soon after, due to the death of his mother, he asked to wait until the end of his service and was not allowed to serve. The post tune is too frequent. In the second year of Tianxi (1018), Zhao Yiyi, the sixth son of Zhenzong, was appointed as Shengwang. Yan Shu was selected as the recorder of Shengwang mansion to join the army, and then moved to Zuo Zhengyan and Zhishi Museum. In September of the same year, Zhao Yiyi was appointed as the crown prince, and changed his name to Zhao Zhen. Yan Shu was also promoted to be a member of the Ministry of household affairs, wailang, and the crown prince, who gave up his life and gave him gold and purple. Before long, he was appointed to the imperial court. After a long time, he was transferred to the Imperial Academy successively, and served as judge of Jingling palace, Prince Zuo Shuzi, Taichang temple and zhiliyi Academy. Every time Zhenzong asked Yan Shu for advice, he wrote the questions in small words on a small piece of paper. After Yan Shu wrote his suggestion, he put it together with the small piece of paper and presented it to Zhenzong. Zhenzong appreciated his prudence and strictness. In the first year of Qianxing (1022), Zhenzong died and Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, that is, song Renzong. Renzong's younger son was ruled by his mother, Empress Dowager Liu. Prime Minister Ding Wei and Su Mi's envoy Cao Liyong wanted to monopolize power, and the court officials talked about it one after another. Yan Shu put forward the suggestion of "listening to the government behind the curtain", which brought the matter to an end. After that, he was promoted to the position of right counsellor and academician. Empress dowager Liu thought that he was an old minister of emperor Renzong in the East Palace, so she extended extra grace to the Deputy envoys of Shizhong and jingling palace, and sentenced liuneiquan, the official department. Later, he participated in the compilation of Zhenzong Shilu, and taught Renzong Yi in Chongzheng Hall. He was promoted to the Minister of rites, the court of Zhishen, and the Minister of rites. Then he moved to the Vice Minister of privy, and was transferred from the Minister of rites to the Minister of punishment.

Demotion after conviction

Later, Yan Shu violated empress dowager Liu's will because he opposed the granting of Zhang Qi as a secret envoy. In addition, he was impeached by the imperial censor because he broke the front teeth of his servants in the court Wat in Yuqing palace. In 1027, he was demoted to Xuanzhou as a servant of the Ministry of punishment and changed to yingtianfu a few months later. When he was a local official, he ran a large school to cultivate talents.

Reentry Center

After that, Yan Shu was summoned to the court again. He paid homage to Zhongcheng, the official censor, and was granted the bachelor degree of zizhengdian and Hanlin Shidu. He was also appointed to preside over the tribute of the Ministry of rites in 1030. In 1031, he was promoted to the third secretary. Later, he took the post of deputy privy Minister for the second time, but he didn't take office formally. In the first year of Ming Dynasty (1032), he paid homage to the minister (Deputy Prime Minister) and added the minister to Zuo Cheng. In 1033, Empress Dowager Liu was going to pay a visit to the temple. It was suggested that she should wear a crown. After consulting Yan Shu, the Empress Dowager remonstrated him by citing the section of Houfu in Zhouguan. In the same year, the Empress Dowager passed away, and Renzong was in charge, demoting all the ministers appointed by the Empress Dowager. Yan Shu was demoted to Bozhou (with the title of minister of rites) and Chen Zhou (with the title of minister of punishment). Later, Yan Shu was called back to the court as Minister of the Ministry of punishment and censor Zhongcheng. For the second time, he served as a third secretary. At that time, Li Yuanhao, the leader of the party in the northwest, declared himself Emperor, established the Xixia regime, and sent troops to Shaanxi. The war was unfavorable and the border situation was urgent. Yan Shu analyzed the situation and explained four important tasks of strengthening armament: abolishing the internal minister's supervision of the army, giving the commander the power to decide major military affairs; recruiting and training archers for combat purposes; clearing up the long-standing property in the palace and subsidizing the military salaries at the border; recovering the materials occupied by various departments and replenishing the national treasury. His suggestion was adopted by Renzong. In the early years of Kangding (1040-1041), Yan Shu was ordered to know the affairs of the Privy Council. Later, he officially served as the Privy envoy, and was worshipped as the chief inspector and the Minister of tongzhongshu. In March of the second year of Qingli (1042), Yan Shu officially became prime minister as Minister of the Ministry of punishment, grand Bachelor of Jixian hall, privy envoy and Minister of Tongzhong.

Life in old age

In the autumn of 1044, Yan Shu was impeached by Sun Fu and Cai Xiang for writing and repairing the epitaph of imperial concubine Li Chen. Later, the Minister of rites and the Minister of punishment successively knew Chenzhou and Xuzhou. At the age of 60, he served as the governor of yongxingjun (now Xi'an, Shaanxi Province) as the Minister of the Ministry of household and the grand Bachelor of guanwendian. Later, he knew that he was left in the south of the river, and moved to the Ministry of military affairs and Shang Shu. He went to the three departments and the upper pillar state of the Kai Fu instrument, and sealed the Linzi public (twelve thousand households in the Food City, three thousand and seven hundred households in real closed food). In June of the first year of Zhihe (1054), Yan Shu asked to return to Kaifeng for medical treatment because of illness, and then went out to work in Beijing after he recovered. Yan Shu was specially left by Renzong to explain the Scriptures for himself. He met Renzong once every five days and still treated each other as prime minister. After a year, Yan Shu's condition worsened, and Renzong wanted to see him. When Yan Shu knew this, he immediately sent a message to Renzong, saying, "I'm old and seriously ill. I can't do anything any more. It's not worth worrying about by your majesty." Shortly afterwards, he died at the age of 65 on January 28, 2005 (February 27, 1055). Although Renzong went to mourn in person, he still felt sorry for not being able to visit him when he was sick, especially for his two-day stay in court. He was given the official title of Sikong and Shizhong, with the posthumous title of "Yuanxian". In the first seal of the inscription, he wrote the four characters "tablet of old learning".

Main impact

Politics

When song Renzong just ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Zhang xianmingsu was in charge of the state affairs. Prime Minister Ding Wei and Su Mi envoy Cao Liyong wanted to see the Empress Dowager alone. For a moment, they were in a stalemate. Yan Shu came forward and suggested that the Empress Dowager listen to the government behind the curtain, but neither Ding nor Cao could see them. This proposal played an important role in stabilizing the political situation at that time. During the reign of emperor Renzong Jingyou of Song Dynasty, Li Yuanhao, the leader of the Northwest Dangxiang clan and the king of Xiping, called himself Emperor and opposed the Song Dynasty. When Yan Shu took Tongping Zhangshi as an envoy, he suggested that Renzong should stop supervising the army and not give the generals array plans, so that they could adapt to the enemy's circumstances. He also suggested that the financial system should be rectified. These suggestions were adopted by Renzong and achieved good results. Yan Shu was willing to reward talents, and famous scholars such as Fan Zhongyan, Kong Daofu and Wang Anshi came from his family; Han Qi and Ou Yangxiu were cultivated and recommended by him, and they were all highly valued. He was able to recognize Fu Bi and marry his daughter to him. When Yan Shu was in power, Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, and Fu Bi were all highly valued, and the Taiwan cabinet was more virtuous.

education

When Yan Shu was a local official, he attached great importance to the development of academies. He strongly supported Ying Tianfu academy and invited Fan Zhongyan to give lectures in the Academy, which trained a large number of talents. The Academy, together with Bailudong, shigu and Yuelu, is known as the four academies in the early Song Dynasty. This is the first time for Yan Shu to launch a large-scale education since the Five Dynasties, when schools were banned and abolished repeatedly. In the third year of Qingli period, when he was the prime minister, he, together with Fan Zhongyan, the Deputy privy minister, advocated state and county schools, reformed teaching contents, and set up professors in official schools. Since then, there have been official schools from the capital to counties

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