In the following months, the world of the Great Song Dynasty was always in turmoil. After the Zhengdan, Sima Guang, whose health was not as good as before, knew that time was running out, so on the one hand, he promoted his cronies and henchmen to Taiwan, and on the other hand, he united with Lu Gongshu, Fan Chunren and others to request the complete abolition of the new law, and strive to restore the administrative affairs of the imperial court to the time before the change of the law before his death.

After a war of words in the court, the two laws of armor protection and horse protection were the first to be abolished. Then, it was the turn of the City Law and the Fangtian Tax Law.

Different from the two laws of Baojia and Baoma, the Shiyi Law stabilized prices and restricted profiteers from hoarding; The Fangtian average tax law concealed a large number of fields and increased the tax revenue of the imperial court, which was a good law. However, both of these new laws have been attacked repeatedly since their enactment because they were detrimental to the interests of wealthy merchants and scholars. Su Shi didn't want to see these two good policies also abolished, so he went to visit Sima Guang at night.

When Su Shi came to the Prime Minister's Mansion, Sima Guang was in the study to meet Liu Zhi, the middle of the imperial history. On Sima Guang's desk is a new thing that has recently become popular in Bianjing - a newspaper. Seeing this, Su Shi's eyelids jumped slightly, and he couldn't help but say nothing.

A month ago, after a long conversation with Murong Fu, this new thing called "Bianjing Times" quickly appeared on the streets of Bianjing. Printed in ink, the Bianjing Times has 20 pages, one every 10 days, and each copy costs eight copper plates. The content of the survey includes not only articles and poems written by literati and scholars, but also evaluations and comments on various opera artists, as well as the introduction of various novel food and toys in Bianjing City. Due to its all-encompassing content, the "Bianjing Times" soon became popular in Bianjing, and gradually spread to the surrounding areas.

Sima Guang had suffered the loss of the leaflet, so he was naturally more sensitive to the appearance of this newspaper, so he soon ordered the old servant of the family to go to the street to buy one and bring it back for him to read carefully. "The sound of the wind and rain, the sound of reading, the sound of the ear, family affairs, national affairs, world affairs, and everything is concerned." After reading the couplet printed on the masthead in every issue of the "Bianjing Times" in a low voice, Sima Guang couldn't help but sigh softly. "The man who runs this newspaper has a great plan!"

The appearance of newspapers is really a product of the times, but in front of Sima Guang, it is a pearl in secret. Although Bi Sheng had invented movable type printing during the Renzong period, due to the easy damage of the clay movable type, the quality of the printing ink used in printing was not good, and the printed handwriting was not clear. However, engraving printing is slow to make plates, and engraving is easy to wear, which increases the cost, which is why the price of books remains high.

The "Bianjing Times" run by Murong Fu only has a total of one piece of paper, which is printed on both sides of the front and back, but there is no ink through the back of the words. In addition, the "Bianjing Times" will publish a new one every 10 days, and the first printing of the first issue is 3,000 copies. By the time Sima Guang caught his attention, the newspaper had a print run of 10,000 copies. In the face of such a huge workload, it is obviously impossible to use block printing. Therefore, Murong Fu's newspaper actually used lead movable type and prepared ink for printing. In order to ensure quality, Murong Fu even ordered people to improve the papermaking process, and thus added an additional profit growth point to the industry under his name.

Liu Zhi, who was sitting on the side, comforted him and said: "The students of this newspaper have also bought a few issues, except for some literati who have written articles, most of them are written about the wind and snow, so don't worry too much." Besides, a few days ago, the prime minister presided over the abolition of the two laws of protecting armor and protecting horses, and this newspaper also advocated for the prime minister, which is a good thing! ”

Sima Guang only shook his head slightly when he heard this, and did not say much. Even though Sima Guang didn't know anything about the way of economy and technology, he also clearly knew that there was no issue number of periodicals when books were printed and sold in the Song Dynasty, as long as they were not books that were prostituted and stolen, they would be printed and printed, even if they were officials and prime ministers, they could not be banned at will. Now the newspaper seems to be no threat, but once it points the finger at itself, its energy will probably be greater than that of the leaflet.

Liu Zhi saw that Sima Guang was worried, so he said again: "If Xianggong is really not at ease, it is better to find a reason and ban it." ”

Su Shi saw Sima Guang's thinking face, obviously quite moved, and hurriedly said: "Liu Zhongcheng is cautious!" When the prime minister returned to the court, he went to the official's house to speak widely, and now he has banned the newspaper for no reason, isn't it a slap in the face? ”

Sima Guang's brows tightened and relaxed, and he thanked: "Thanks to Zizhan for reminding him!" ”

Su Shi didn't dare to take credit, so he hurriedly bowed and said: "The lower official is here to abolish the Fang Tian Average Tax Law. This square land tax law conceals a large number of ownerless fields and increases the taxes of the imperial court, which is really good governance......"

Before Su Shi finished speaking, Sima Guang said impatiently: "The abolition of the new law is related to the society, and my will has been decided, you don't have to say more!" After that, he left Su Shi and left the study by himself. Su Shi, the unlucky ghost, was single-handedly fished up from the fire pit by Sima Guang, gave him the title of Hanlin Bachelor, and asked him to preside over the tribute of the Ministry of Rites to recruit his cronies. Unexpectedly, he had just come back, and he was thinking about opposing himself. Su Shi was so ignorant and blind, Sima Guang couldn't help but be very dissatisfied.

Su Shi was bored at Sima Guang's house, and after returning to his house, he didn't tell his wife about it until late at night, and sighed for a long time: "Sima Niu! Sima Niu! He added, "Tomorrow in the court, I should fight on the basis of reason, and I can't make a big mistake in Junshi!" ”

When Wang Yanzhi heard this, he was worried. When Emperor Shenzong presided over the law change, Su Shi strongly opposed it and did not tolerate the new party. Now that the old party is in power, Su Shi opposes Sima Guang's complete abolition of the new law, and it is obvious that the old party will not be tolerated. In this way, I am afraid that Su Shi's road in the court will be exhausted by himself. Wang Yanzhi knew that she couldn't persuade her husband, so she got up and went to find Murong Fu.

Murong Fu was only silent after hearing what happened to Su Shi at Sima Guang's house, and after a long time, he sighed and said, "If it weren't for Sima Xianggong, the teacher would still be eating sand in Ruzhou now." Tomorrow in the court, if the teacher and Sima Xianggong fight, the world will never praise the teacher for speaking up, but will scold the teacher for being ungrateful. ”

Su Shi was immediately shocked when he heard this, and immediately shouted: "Although I received the favor of Junshi, I didn't sell it to him. Why can't you even tell the truth? ”

Murong Fu smiled and did not answer. In real history, on the one hand, Su Shi smashed the conspiracy of the New Party to restore it, and on the other hand, he was crooked about Sima Guang's complete abolition of the new law. As a result, both the old and new parties hated him to the core, and the impeachment of him flew like snowflakes, forcing the Empress Dowager to send him to Hangzhou.

Murong Fu and Su Shi looked at each other for a long time, and when they saw that Su Shi always looked firm and unrelenting, he said: "Since the teacher calls Sima Xianggong 'Sima Niu', you should know that his stubbornness is no less than that of 'Xianggong' Wang Jiefu." Even if the teacher and Sima Xianggong are-for-tat tomorrow, does the teacher think he can convince him? ”

This time, Su Shi only groaned.

Murong Fu smiled slightly, and said, "If it is...... Students dare to pack tickets, and there must be a solution to this matter. Is the teacher willing to forbear for the time being and plot for the future? ”

Su Shi looked at Murong Fu inexplicably, but saw Murong Fu's gaze sweeping to the newspaper in his hand. "I ran this newspaper not only to advocate for the abolition of the new law by Sima Xianggong." All interest groups have their own views on the gains and losses of the new law, and the rhetoric in the court may not be able to win or lose. However, counting jù is not deceiving. The implementation of the market law has prospered the market and made shops and teeth shops flourish; The Fangtian Tax Law increased tax revenue, and the imperial court became more and more prosperous. If these two laws were to be repealed, how would the surplus labor force be placed? To reduce the budgets of the ministries, have the ministers ever been willing? These problems need to be solved by Sima Guang.

Su Shi said clearly: "You want to put this newspaper into the imperial review?" ”

"It's not me, but there's someone else." Murong Fu District Eight Rank Officials, who are not even qualified to participate in the court meeting, how can they have the opportunity to submit the newspaper to the imperial review. But the leader of the New Party, Zhang Dun, has not yet been demoted, and he will certainly take action.

"Why not a teacher?" Su Shi asked in surprise.

"Teacher, do you really want to be tolerated by the new party or the old party? Sima Xianggong has lived in Luoyang for 15 years because of his opposition to the new law, and the abolition of the new law is not only a state matter, but also a personal grudge! Murong Fu said in a deep voice, "I know that the teacher has always been used to being a gongsun pestle, but in today's situation, only Cheng Ying can save the world!" ”

Su Shi was suddenly taken aback, and immediately defended his good friend: "Junshi is not such a narrow-minded person!" ”

"If he is not narrow-minded, he should understand the benefits of the law of the city and the law of the square field; If he doesn't know the benefits of these two laws, but just follows the crowd, then how qualified does he have to be the prime minister? Murong Fu replied immediately.

Even though Su Shi has always been eloquent, he was speechless by the students at this time. After a while, he said depressedly: "I hope your newspaper is really useful!" ”

"Teacher, for the sake of the present, the only way to do our best is to obey the destiny of heaven, and leave it to be useful for the future." Murong Fu persuaded bitterly. Seeing Su Shi nodded reluctantly, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Sima Guang's life is coming to an end, and as soon as Sima Guang dies, there is no one in the old party whose prestige can be compared with Su Shi. Whether you can win the position of ruler or not, it only depends on this game.

The next day, Sima Guang really asked for the abolition of the Yi Law and the Fang Tian Tax Law. At this time, Sima Guang was in the limelight in the court, and there was no one who dared to speak out in the court, but Zhang Dian Shangshu refuted Sima Guang's attack on the two laws. Seeing that the two were arguing, the Empress Dowager asked her idol's opinion again.

Su Shi was admonished by Murong Fu, and after a lot of hard work, he resisted the urge to speak out against Sima Guang, and only silently bowed to the Empress Dowager and the official family, and then turned to Sima Guang and walked away. Su Shi made this move, and the court suddenly knew that Su Shi did not agree with Sima Guang, but he was reluctant to say more because of Sima Guang's feelings. With Su Shi taking the lead, some of the ministers in the court who were originally wavering also became ambiguous, unwilling to explicitly say whether they supported the abolition of these two laws.

After several days of delays, a copy of the "Bianjing Times" finally came into Zhang's sight. Zhang Dun originally read this "Bianjing Times" only to relieve his boredom, and he did not want the editorials written in the newspaper to make him stunned, so he immediately brought the newspaper into the palace to ask to see the empress dowager and the official family. At the court meeting on the second day, Zhang Dian was in good spirits and asked Sima Guang three questions listed in the newspaper in person. First, once the law is abolished, how will the imperial court stabilize prices? Second, once the Fangtian average tax law is abolished, the tax revenue will be greatly reduced, how will the imperial court support the people? Third, how to resettle the surplus labor force that has been laid off due to the repeal of the Second Law?

Sima Guang never thought about any of these three questions, but only clenched one and did not let go: the two laws compete with the people for profit, and there are evil officials who bend the law for personal gain, which is a bad law!

Zhang Dian smiled leisurely and said loudly: "The only seven things that the people can do when they open the door are firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea, but there are more than seven major national events that the imperial court handles every day?" Cultural governance and martial arts, disaster relief and poverty alleviation, supporting the people and pioneering, paving roads and bridges, and cropping and business, which one does not need money? Sima Xianggong only knows the two laws and competes with the people for profit, but he doesn't know how a poor court can support the world of Heqing Haiyan? The so-called hiding wealth from the people is just that it is a group of fat pigs to be slaughtered for those tiger-wolf-like aliens! As for the unclear system of officials, it is inevitable that there will be disadvantages outside the rules. How to clarify the official system should be planned by the public. Wouldn't it be a joke if you choke on food because you can't make it clear? ”

Zhang's remarks were similar to the newspaper editorials, which choked Sima Guang. It was only because the court's discussion could not be held that the Empress Dowager Gao had no choice but to announce the suspension of the abolition of the City Yi Law and the Fangtian Tax Law.

When the law of exemption from military service was abolished, Sima Guang finally did his homework and chose an auspicious day of the zodiac that had just been published in the newspaper, counted the five evils of the law of exemption from military service, and requested the restoration of the law of poor service. This time, Su Shi still didn't say a word, and Zhang Dian became a lonely hero. The lawsuit has been fought all the way to the front of the Empress Dowager, and there has not yet been a decision on whether the exemption law will be completely abolished, but Sima Guang has already seen the weakness of Zhang Dun's character and deliberately provoked him in front of the Empress Dowager. The irascible Zhang Dian really hit the plan, and because of his words and deeds, he hated the empress dowager and was demoted from the court to serve as the governor of Ruzhou.

With the demotion of Zhang Dian from Beijing, the power of the new party in the court has been uprooted by the old party. Sima Guang was full of ambition and ordered that the law on exemption from military service be abolished within five days and that the law on errand service be restored. It has been 16 years since the Exemption Law was implemented in the third year of Xining, and Sima Guang's demand that it be abolished within five days is obviously too hasty, and can even be said to be chaotic. All of a sudden, there were many dissidents in the Manchu Dynasty, only Yin Caijing of Kaifeng Prefecture ordered it to be banned, and the people of Bianjing were full of complaints.

On the one hand, Murong Fu was secretly annoyed that Zhang Dun's combat effectiveness was insufficient, and he was easily pitted by Sima Guang, and on the other hand, he arranged for people to collect all kinds of illegal things about the abolition of the exemption law in Kaifeng Prefecture, and planned to record them in the newspaper and try to reach the heavens. And just when he was busy, Su Shi, who had been quite depressed in recent days, suddenly sent him a message - Zhang Dian, who was about to go to Ruzhou to take up his post, wanted to see him before leaving.