Renovating government affairs has always been an extremely difficult task. When a country is in a trend of turning from prosperity to decline, it is especially difficult and we need to be cautious. If you rely solely on enthusiasm and the efforts of a few people to turn things around in a short period of time, it will often accelerate the failure of innovation. There are many such things, and "Yongzhen Innovation" is one of them.
After the "An-Shi Rebellion", the Tang Dynasty suffered from serious shortcomings. After Tang Shunzong Li Song came to the throne, he appointed reformists such as Wang Shuwen and Wang Gan to try to reform the government. The reform started vigorously and vigorously, but then failed, like a flash in the pan. History calls this reform the "Yongzhen Reform", also known as the "Two Kings and Eight Sima" incident.
The old and new policies in Tang Dezong's later years were serious. Prince Li Song had a deep understanding of this, and Wang Shuwen and Wang Wu, who served the prince with chess and writing, also had innovative ambitions. The two kings took advantage of their favorable status to contact like-minded people and prepared to do something. After Dezong died and the prince could not speak due to illness, he supported the prince to ascend the throne and kicked off the reform.
Tang Dezong, who came to the throne after the "Anshi Rebellion", was not a mediocre ruler, but he was impatient, jealous, headstrong, and liked to act rashly. He reused the eunuchs Dou Wenxuan and Huo Xianming, giving them the actual leadership of the Shence Army and becoming an almost unrivaled force in court politics. He also devoted himself to plundering the people and amassing wealth. He accumulated many names and made new tricks. Scholars, farmers, industry and merchants all complained.
Li Song, the crown prince of Dezong, had been in the East Palace for more than 20 years. He often cared about government affairs and had a better understanding of the sufferings of the people. Wang Shuwen, Wang Gan and others around the prince also had the ambition to reform the government. Wang Shuwen was good at Go, and he played chess in the Hanlin Academy and served as a student at the prince's side. Wang Min was good at calligraphy, and he played calligraphy in court. Therefore, the two often provided the prince with private information and discussed national affairs. Once, the prince chatted with his attendants and talked about the bad government of the "palace market" at that time. As soon as the conversation started, everyone was talking non-stop and very indignant. The prince was also very impulsive and said: "What you are commenting on is very urgent. I am just about to advise the emperor on this and try to eradicate it." Seeing the prince so excited, everyone was all excited. Praising the prince's virtue, Wang Shuwen remained silent. The prince saw this in his eyes, and after everyone else left, he left Wang Shuwen behind and said, "Just now, Mr. Wang was the only one who didn't speak. Do you have any deeper meaning to tell me?" Wang Shuwen said, "I am favored by His Highness the Prince. Do you dare not say anything if you have an opinion? Please think about it, your highness. The prince was puzzled and asked, "What do you mean?" Wang Shuwen said, "The position of the prince should be." You care about your father's daily life and health, and you shouldn't talk about other things easily. The emperor has been in power for a long time. How can you free yourself if you suspect that the prince is trying to win people's hearts?" The prince was frightened when he heard this. Cold sweat, looking at this loyal master, I am really grateful. From then on, I had more trust in Wang Shuwen.
With the trust and support of the prince, Wang Shuwen used his special identity and status to start contacting some like-minded people to prepare for future reforms, and often recommended to the prince who could be the prime minister and who should be elected. People can be generals and hope to use them in the future. The people who were associated with Wang Shuwen at that time mainly included Wei Zhiyi, a Hanlin scholar, and imperial scholars such as Lu Chun, Lu Wen, Li Jingjian, Han Ye, Han Tai, Chen Jian, Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi, Ling Zhun, and Cheng Yi. Later, he had close contact with the Crown Princess Niu Zhaorong (the Queen after the Crown Prince ascended the throne) and the eunuch Li Zhongyan. This group of figures who had varying degrees of reform intentions due to various factors often discussed government affairs together and strengthened each other. The core figures were of course the "two kings", especially Wang Shuwen.
In September of the 20th year of Zhenyuan of Dezong (804), Prince Li Song suffered from a wind disease and could not speak, which brought trouble to his accession to the throne. Long before the prince became ill, Dezong had doubted the prince because of the "gu magic" incident and had the idea of ??changing the prince's name to a new prince. Fortunately, the prime minister at the time, Li Milili, gave his advice and made Dezong give up the idea. After the prince contracted a wind disease, he was unable to attend the Spring Festival celebration ceremony in the 21st year of Zhenyuan (805). Dezong was already old and frail at this time. Seeing that the prince could not come, he cried and lamented. Soon he fell ill and was bedridden, unable to see. towards. For more than 20 days, there was no news from the two palaces (the Imperial Palace and the East Palace), and the court was panicked.
In this delicate situation, a competition around the issue of succession began. A group of people, represented by the eunuchs Ju Wenzhen and Xue Yingzhen, did not announce the funeral secretly when Dezong had passed away, and prepared to make King Shu Li Yi the emperor instead.
The nephew of the king, who was the prime minister at the time, found out about the conspiracy through Li Zhongyan, the eunuch who supported Prince Li Song, and immediately managed to inform Wang Shuwen. Wang Shuwen urgently summoned Hanlin scholar Ling Zhun, imperial censor Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi and others to discuss, and decided to win the support of important ministers and support Li Song to ascend the throne. On the evening of the third day after Dezong's death, Hanlin University scholars Zheng Yu, Wei Cigong, Ling Zhun, Li Cheng, Zhang Yu, Wang Ya and others entered the Tai Chi Hall where Dezong's Lingshu was located, and argued with each other. After defeating the eunuchs Ju Wenzhen and Xue Yingzhen's conspiracy to change the throne, it was decided to publicly mourn Dezong the next day and invite Prince Li Song to ascend the throne. Although Ju Wenzhen and others said nothing verbally, what they were thinking in their hearts was that the prince could not speak or act. How would he ascend the throne tomorrow?
But Prince Li Song has extraordinary perseverance. When Wang Gan rushed back to the East Palace to tell him that the emperor had passed away, and that he was urgently needed to summon the military envoys to calm people's hearts due to the current worries and doubts, the prince stood up with a shout and hurriedly put on purple clothes and hemp shoes. With the help of the palace attendant, he walked out of the palace step by step, got on the chariot, and walked out of the Nine Immortals Gate. When the prince appeared from afar, there were cheers and people felt at ease. The next day, the prince dressed in mourning clothes met with all the civil and military officials at the Xuanzheng Hall and announced the late emperor's last edict. On the 26th of the first month of the 21st year of Zhenyuan (805), Prince Li Song ascended the throne in Taiji Hall, and was known as "Shunzong" in history. The curtain of reform can begin.
After Shunzong ascended the throne, he reused people from the "Two Kings" group. In a short period of time, a series of reform measures were enacted. Because this reform was carried out during the Yongzhen period of the later Yuan Dynasty, it was called the "Yongzhen Reform" in history.
After Tang Shunzong ascended the throne in the first month of the first year of Zhenyuan (805), although he was extremely weak, he still did not change his original intention and firmly supported the reform movement. He accepted Wang Shuwen's recommendation and appointed Wei Zhiyi from the "Two Kings" group as prime minister on February 11. More than 10 days later, Wang Shuwen was appointed as a Hanlin bachelor, and Wang Gong was appointed as a Hanlin scholar. With the support of Wei Zhiyi, Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi, Lu Wen, Lu Zhi, Li Jingjian, Han Ye, Han Tai, Chen Jian, Ling Zhun, Cheng Yi and other court officials, the reform group with the "Two Kings" as the core quickly launched A series of reform measures.
First take the surgery on Jingzhao Yin and Li Shi. Li Shi belonged to the clan and was named Tao King. When he was the judge of Li Gao, the governor of Shannan, he was almost killed by an angry sergeant because he withheld food and salary. Fortunately, he ran fast and was spared. After becoming Jing Zhaoyin, his character did not change. In the 20th year of Zhenyuan (804), there was a severe drought in Guanzhong and severe harvest failure. When Dezong asked about the situation in Jingzhao area, he actually replied: "Although there is a drought this year, the crops are very good, and there is no sign of drought." I want to continue to gather gifts to invite Dezong's favor. Han Yu, the supervisory censor, couldn't stand it, so he remonstrated and was demoted. Cheng Fuduan, a superior man, was beheaded by Li Shi for "defaming state affairs" just for making up a few songs. At the beginning of the next year, Dezong ordered that Jinei's rent arrears be exempted, but Li Shi violated the edict and levied the rent. He forced the farmer Dian Sang to sell his land and pay taxes. In the process of urging the payment, several people from the ancient times died in his hands. On February 11th of the first year of Yongzhen (805), Emperor Shunzong issued an edict to demote Jingzhao Yin Li Shi to the position of governor of Tong. As soon as the edict was issued, the city burst into cheers, and many people held stones waiting to beat him on the way out of the capital. Li Shi had no choice but to sneak into Xiyuan first, and then escape in embarrassment all the way to the west from Yueying Gate.
Then the "Palace Market" was stopped. As early as Dezong's time, eunuchs often plundered people in urban and rural markets in the name of collecting items for the imperial palace, which was called "palace market". It is said that it is a "market purchase", but in fact it is either a forced purchase at a low price or a free grab. When the people saw them, they were like robbers. In Bai Juyi's "The Charcoal Seller", "Who are the two cavalry coming? The messenger in yellow is wearing a white shirt. Holding a document and pronouncing the edict, he returns to the cart and shouts at the oxen to lead them to the north. A cart of charcoal weighs more than a thousand kilograms, and the palace envoys will not be able to get it." The poem is a true and vivid portrayal of "Gongshi". Now that this bad government is over, it will naturally win the hearts of scholars and people, especially businessmen.
Stop "Fifang children". The so-called five squares are Diaofang, Falcon Square, Harrier Square, Eagle Square and Dog Square. "Children" refers to the servants serving in these five squares. Wufang children set up nets everywhere in and outside Chang'an to catch birds. Sometimes they put the nets over doorways or wells, and people were not allowed to go out to fetch water. Only when they gave money could they fetch water. They went to restaurants without paying for meals. Sometimes they left a basket of snakes and asked the owner to keep them well, saying they were used to catch birds and bring them to the emperor. When the owner saw this, he was horrified and had to pay and apologize before taking the snake basket with him. Walk. There are also other evil deeds of plunder and robbery, which the people avoid like the plague. Now that he has been dismissed, the people naturally support him.
Stop "moon advance" and "sun advance".
At that time, some local Jiedushi envoys, especially the Salt and Iron envoys, in order to please Emperor Dezong, kept giving money, some once a month. It is called "Moon Jin"; some people worship it once a day, which is called "Ri Jin". Later, the local governors and staff also rushed to follow suit, making the people miserable and full of complaints. When Shunzong was the prince, he already hated this. Now that I have become the emperor, this disadvantage will be eliminated.
Release the palace maids and the harem girls. There were often two to three thousand maids in the harem of the Tang Dynasty, and there were also many female musicians. Many people in the palace could not see the emperor from the day they entered the palace until their hair turned gray. Bai Juyi wrote in "The White-Haired Man in Shangyang": "People in Shangyang, people in Shangyang, the beauty is old and the hair is new, the messenger in green guards the palace gate, how much spring comes when the sun is closed!" This is the consumption of the life and youth of the palace maids. Portrait. In the "Yongzhen Reform", 900 palace maids and female musicians were released, and relatives were allowed to greet them at the Nine Immortals Gate. The family reunited and cheered long live!
While getting rid of the above obvious bad policies, Wang Shuwen and others began to attack the field of real power and attack the chronic diseases.
The first is to control financial management rights. Financial problems have been a big problem since Dezong. Dezong tried to solve it during his lifetime, but ultimately failed. When Wang Shuwen was with Prince Li Song, he looked at him with cold eyes for 18 years. He deeply felt that the problem of wealth was the prerequisite for solving other problems and the key to revitalizing court politics. However, due to the lack of suitable candidates in this field, it is difficult to start. After discussions with Liu Yuxi and others, it was felt that it would be more appropriate to appoint Du You, a famous financial minister at the time, as the "envoy of Duzhi, salt and iron", and Wang Shuwen himself as the deputy envoy. Because one, Liu Yuxi was Du You’s subordinate and was deeply appreciated by Du You. If Du was the envoy, he would definitely let Liu take control of the copywriting; the other was that Du You was serving as the chief minister, assistant, and the envoy of Dezong Shanling at that time. Although he was an envoy, he would not Wang Shuwen's deputy envoy is actually the chief envoy who really takes care of his duties. After careful consideration, on March 17, the first year of Yongzhen (805), an edict was issued, appointing Du You as the "Duzhi and Salt and Iron Envoy" and Wang Shuwen as deputy. As expected, Du You asked Liu Yuxi to take charge of copywriting, but he did not actually take up the post. Everything was as Wang Shuwen expected.
The next step is to prepare to deprive the eunuchs of their military power. In May of the first year of Yongzhen (805), Wang Shuwen and others, after careful planning, appointed Fan Xichao, the general of Youjinwu, as the military governor of the towns in the west of Beijing. Fan is a famous minister and general, so it is reasonable for him to take up this position. Therefore, after the appointment was issued, it did not arouse the vigilance of the eunuch leader. In order to ensure control of the Shence Army, Wang Shuwen appointed Duzhi Langzhong Han Tai as the left and right marching commander of the Shence Army to assist Fan Xichao. However, Han Tai was already an obvious member of the "Two Kings" group at that time. After this appointment was issued, the eunuchs Ju Wenzhen and Liu Guangqi who were in charge of the actual power of the Shence Army immediately became alert and realized that this was a power grab by the "Two Kings". Therefore, the general Shence Army was secretly ordered not to accept orders from Fan and Han. Fan and Han arrived at Fengtianhou according to the order, but no one came to report for a long time, so this move did not come true.
At the same time, prepare to suppress the feudal towns. In April of the first year of Yongzhen (805), Wei Gao, the military governor of Xichuan in Jiannan, sent his confidant Liu Pi to the capital to threaten and induce Wang Shuwen, proposing to fully possess the three rivers in Jiannan (Xichuan, Dongchuan and Xichuan in Jiannan). Daohe was called Sanchuan) to expand his territory. Wang Shuwen angrily rebuked Liu Pi and sternly rejected Wei Gao's unreasonable request. The day after Liu Pi arrived, Wang Shuwen wrote in handwriting to Prime Minister Wei Zhiyi, asking Wei Zhiyi to bring Liu Pi to justice. Wang Shuwen wanted to use this to kill the chicken to show the monkeys and build momentum for the next step of suppressing the vassal towns. However, Prime Minister Wei Zhiyi thought twice and did not follow Wang Shuwen's wishes. This move did not come true again.
Historians later called these reform measures "Yongzhen Reform" because they were all introduced in the first year of Yongzhen.
Just when Wang Shuwen saw the difficulty and went in, Dou Qun, the imperial censor in the palace, paid an audience to Wang Shuwen and said to him: "Last year, Li Shifa relied on his kindness and nobles, which caused a stir. Where were you, my lord, at that time? It was just a patrol. Just a small official from Jiangnan on the roadside! Now you are in the same situation as Li Shi at that time. How can you not think about it: Are there people like you on the roadside today?
When Dou Qun said this to Wang Shuwen, Wang Shuwen ignored him, but the severe situation facing the reformists cannot be ignored.
Many measures in the "Yongzhen Reform", especially those involving financial power, military power, and vassal towns, caused uneasiness, dissatisfaction, and anger among many people from the central court to local military governors. , because this has touched on their vital interests and status.
As a result, a group of senior officials in the imperial court, eunuchs with real power around the emperor, and generals in the feudal towns changed from the initial fear, wait-and-see, and uneasiness to openly expressing dissatisfaction and anger, and began to join forces to fight back against the reformists.
The first step in counterattack was to establish Li Chun as crown prince. Li Chun was the son of Shunzong Li Song, who was the king of Guangling at that time. Because Li Chun was the eldest son, the eunuchs tried their best to win over him and wanted to replace Emperor Shunzong with Li Chun who supported the "two kings" reform. Shortly after Shunzong ascended the throne and Wang Shuwen's reform measures were introduced one after another, Hanlin scholars Zheng Wei, Wei Cigong and others suggested that Li Chun should be appointed as the crown prince as soon as possible because Shunzong was in poor health and Li Chun was the eldest son. . However, Wang Shuwen may have been unsure of Li Chun's political attitude, so he rejected him on the grounds that "it is necessary to establish a virtuous person rather than a direct descendant". Later, Ju Wenzhen, Xue Wenzhen, Liu Guangqi and others who were old friends from the Dezong period were originally inclined to make Shu Wang Li Yi the crown prince. However, seeing that the situation was extremely unfavorable to them, they took the initiative to contact Zheng Wei, Wei Cigong and others. , after reaching an agreement, they broke into Shunzong's bed. Niu Zhaorong and Li Zhongyan, who were serving Shunzong, could not stop him. Zheng Wei took out a prepared note from his sleeve and sent it to Shunzong. There were only 4 words on the note: "Establishing a direct line of succession." Shunzong's memory had become completely blank due to the torment of the wind. After staring at the note for a long time, he suddenly nodded. Seeing this, Ju Wenzhen and others kowtowed together and shouted "Long live". They immediately drafted an edict to establish the crown prince, officially making Li Chun the crown prince. When Wang Shuwen heard the edict on establishing the crown prince read out by Zheng Wei, he had a premonition that the reform would fail.
The second step is to revoke Wang Shuwen’s position as Hanlin bachelor. After Li Chun was established as the crown prince, Wei Zhiyi, the prime minister at the time, asked the knowledgeable scholar Lu Zhi to serve as the crown prince's attendant. Wei Zhiyi and Lu Zhi both belonged to the "Two Kings" group. Wei Zhiyi's main purpose of doing this was to spy on the prince's movements at any time and to win the sympathy and support of the future emperor in some ways. In addition, it also means that he is personally preparing to retire. However, although Lu Zhi was a staunch supporter of Wang Shuwen, he was not a sophisticated politician. When he just spoke a few words in front of the prince, he was pushed back by the prince: "Your Majesty, Mr. Ling, is for me." Why are you talking about other things when you are explaining the meaning of the scriptures? Please stop talking, sir." Lu Zhi retreated in silence and came back to tell Wang Shuwen, who became increasingly uneasy. Sure enough, one day not long after, when Wang Shuwen came to the Hanlin Academy as usual, what awaited him was an imperial edict: transfer Wang Shuwen to be the Minister of Household Affairs, and eliminate the post of Hanlin bachelor! Wang Shuwen knew the seriousness of this edict, and also knew that it was the work of Ju Wenzhen's people. He went to court again and again, trying to save the situation through Li Zhongyan, Niu Zhaorong and other people close to Shunzong, and even entered the palace in person, but in the end he still could not save the situation of being dismissed from the post of de facto prime minister, so he had to often recite "Departure is not successful" The sad and indignant poems of "die first, often make heroes burst into tears".
The third step is to force Shunzong to abdicate and let Prince Li Chun ascend the throne. Shortly after Wang Shuwen was dismissed from his position as a Hanlin bachelor, he had to leave his job due to the death of his mother. At this time, Wei Zhiyi's attitude had changed significantly and he turned to the side of the prince faction. On the one hand, Wang Min, Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi, Han Tai and others wanted to support the situation through Li Zhongyan's faction in the palace and the intimidation of the seriously ill Shunzong; on the other hand, they turned to Prime Minister Du You to win the support of some courtiers. Wang Min was responsible for the main work of this plan, but after many twists and turns, he made no achievements. Under the huge political pressure, his spirit tended to collapse and he has been closed down since then. At this time, Ju Wenzhen and others saw that there was support from the vassal town outside, support from the court officials inside, and the Shence Army in hand. The "Two Kings" group had lost power and had no support. The prince's attitude was clear, and the time was ripe for making a decision. Therefore, in mid-July, Li Zhongyan and Niu Zhaorong, Shunzong's personal servants, "disappeared". In late July, he announced to the Hanlin scholars: "The Emperor has decreed that the crown prince should be involved in military and state affairs (that is, temporarily handle military and state affairs). Please draw up an edict immediately." On July 28, the edict was issued. The next day, the prince met with the envoys, met with the prime minister, announced to heaven, earth and the country, and began the work of "power to meddle in military and state affairs". On the fourth day of August, the emperor's "Zen Edict" was issued from the inner palace. The next day, Shunzong, who was already the "Top Emperor", formally bid farewell to the emperor's throne, which he had only sat on for 7 months. He was supported on a chariot and moved to Xingqing Palace surrounded by palace attendants. On the same day, there was another edict from the "Tai Shang Huang" ordering the prince to ascend the throne on the 9th of this month, and changed the name to "Yongzhen" to grant amnesty to the world. On August 9, Prince Li Chun officially became emperor, and was known as "Xianzong" in history. Tang Shunzong, who supported the reform of the "Two Kings" group, truly "abdicated" on the political stage.
Shunzong "abdicated" and Xianzong ascended the throne, which meant the complete end of the "Yongzhen Reform". The fate of the reformists was thus determined.
On August 6, before Xianzong ascended the throne, he ordered Wang Gong to be demoted to the position of Sima of Kaizhou, and Wang Shuwen to be the Sima of Yuzhou. Kaizhou and Yuzhou are 1,460 miles and 2,748 miles away from the capital respectively. Soon, Wang Gan died in Kaizhou; the next year, Wang Shuwen was sentenced to death.
On September 13th of the first year of Yongzhen (805), Emperor Xianzong demoted Sima Hantai of Shence Army to the position of governor of Fuzhou, Si Fenglang Zhonghan Hua was appointed governor of Chizhou, and Minister of Rites Wailang Liu Zongyuan was appointed governor of Tai Liu Yuxi, the governor of Lianzhou, was the governor of Lianzhou. On November 7 of the same year, Wei Zhiyi was also demoted from prime minister to Yazhou Sima. On the 13th of the same month, the imperial meeting believed that the punishment for the "Two Kings" group was too light, so Han Tai was demoted to the Sima of Qianzhou, Han Ye was the Sima of Raozhou, Liu Zongyuan was the Sima of Yongzhou, and Liu Yuxi was demoted to the Sima of Langzhou. Chen Jian, the Shaoyin from Hezhong, became the Sima of Taizhou, Ling Zhun, the governor of Hezhou, became the Sima of Lianzhou, and Cheng Yi, the Sima of Yuezhou, became the Sima of Chenzhou. At this point, together with Wei Zhiyi, the eight main members of the "Two Kings" group were demoted to "Sima". Therefore, it is called the "Two Kings and Eight Sima" incident in history.
The "Yongzhen Reform" failed like a flash in the pan. The reasons for the failure of this revolutionary movement are complex. The most important reason is that the rulers are unwilling to admit that the Tang Dynasty has gone from prosperity to decline. It has not yet fallen to the bottom, and it has not yet reached the time when everything must be reversed and peace can not be achieved. The society, the government and the public, have not been able to fundamentally reverse this evolution. The power of trends. In addition, there are also some lessons worth summarizing.
First of all, Tang Shunzong, who the reform group relied on, was both a strong supporter and a major disadvantage. The political reform movement in the feudal era could only be a top-down movement. It is impossible to innovate politics without the support of the supreme ruler. Tang Shunzong himself wanted to reform very much. Although he suffered from wind disease, he still unswervingly supported the reform measures of the "Two Kings" group. This is an innate advantage for the reformists. It is precisely because of this that when Shunzong became emperor, various reform measures were successfully introduced. However, this innate advantage is also an extremely disadvantageous factor. This is Shunzong's physical condition. Since he is unable to speak most of the time, he can be fully utilized by both the "two kings" and the opposition. The twists and turns in the reform process clearly demonstrate this. Wang Shuwen could use this to issue various reform edicts and appoint important official positions. Ju Wenzhen and others could also use this to support the crown prince and remove Wang Shuwen from his post. Moreover, due to the seriousness of Shunzong's disease, the dragon may dominate Bintian at any time, which means that the "Two Kings" group may lose its largest and most powerful backer at any time. Therefore, this reform was extremely risky and short-lived from the beginning. Later facts also proved this. Once Sunjong died, the reform movement evaporated. The "Shang Yang Reform" and some other reform movements in the feudal era were almost all similar to this, but the time was slightly longer.
Secondly, the pace of reform is too fast, which can be described as "anxiety to eliminate shortcomings." Judging from the main contents of the "Yongzhen Innovation", they are all correct and progressive. But judging from the implementation time steps of the reform, it is obviously too fast. In less than half a year, a series of innovative measures were introduced one after another, involving many aspects of the life of the government and the public, especially those that had existed for a long time, such as the exclusive power of eunuchs and the separatist rule of vassal towns. The intention of reform was exposed too early and the measures were not well thought out. For example, when Liu Pi, the confidant of the Wei Gao faction of Jiannan Jiedu, threatened and induced Wang Shuwen and asked to take over the other three towns, Wang Shuwen refused to be threatened or induced, and showed a politician's firm stance and high integrity, which is undoubtedly worthy of recognition. However, he should not have been so angry and forced Prime Minister Wei Zhiyi to execute Liu Pi the next day. Wei Zhiyi thought that doing so was too rash and would cause trouble. Wang Shuwen angrily accused Wei Zhiyi of forgetting their original agreement, putting Wei Zhiyi in an embarrassing situation. Despite this, Wei Zhiyi patiently explained to him: "Of course I don't dare to forget the agreement. But I am acting cautiously at the moment. It is not for any other purpose. I am just trying to make things happen for my brother!" It should be said that this is a heartfelt statement. , but Wang Shuwen didn't listen. Because of such a public commotion, Jiannan Jiedushi Wei Gao and other leaders of the vassal towns wrote letters to the court against Wang Shuwen, and cooperated with the eunuchs inside and outside, which became an important reason for the ruin of the "Yongzhen Revolution".
In addition, when Du You was appointed as Duzhi Salt and Iron Envoy, Wang Shuwen was immediately appointed as deputy envoy. When he appointed Fan Xichao as the leader of the Shence Army, he immediately appointed Han Tai as his deputy, which seemed impatient. It immediately aroused the vigilance of the opposition and prompted several forces to quickly join forces to jointly deal with the reformists and their The reform measures put the reform movement into a dilemma where it was faced with enemies on several sides.
Once again, the "Two Kings" group failed to unite and utilize more people, and internal cracks appeared again. To be fair, the "Two Kings and Eight Sima" were all political elites at that time, and their own strength was not weak. But to carry out a social reform movement, it is far from enough to just rely on these ten people. When Wang Min was presiding over the scientific examination, he had a huge family, hiring and promoting dozens of people every day, as if he were expanding his team. However, according to his own words, "all the people he hired were people who could be used to interact with each other." "Available" is correct, but it is too narrow-minded if they are all "working with each other every day". After Wang Shuwen learned about it, he did not think it was wrong. Instead, he emphasized: "Dissidents must not use it. This principle must be adhered to!" Although this has a certain truth, it will inevitably make the reform camp "identical" rather than "harmony", and it will offend some people. A large number of people, not all of whom were anti-reformers. The imperial censor Shi Douqun who reminded Wang Shuwen was one of them. It is a pity that Wang Shuwen did not pay attention to the outspoken words of this little man, and confined himself to a small circle instead of uniting more people. His sense of superiority became more and more important, making many people in the government and the public increasingly feel that they were completely authoritarian and domineering. The private party. But the actual situation was not like this. A rift appeared between Wang Shuwen and Wei Zhiyi, and it became bigger and bigger. After the disagreement arose over Liu Pi's incident, the conflict deepened due to the "Yang Shi'e Incident". Yang Shi'e was originally a Jinshi and had a good relationship with Lu Wen in the "Two Kings" group, but he had a similar personality to Dou Qun and was a little pushy. He was originally the inspector of Xuanshe Jiedu Mansion and went to Beijing on a business trip in May of the first year of Yongzhen (805). He heard that Wang Shuwen was being criticized by many people, so he acted on a whim and publicly criticized Wang Shuwen in public. Wang Shuwen was extremely indignant about this, feeling that such a small official could be so rampant, where was his dignity? Determined to kill one person as a warning to others. So he invited the prime minister Wei Zhiyi to order Yang Shi'e to beheaded. Wei Zhiyi disagreed, and Wang Shuwen asked to be killed on the spot in Dali Temple, but Wei still disagreed. Wang Shuwen's anger suddenly broke out. In front of many people, he cursed Wei Zhiyi for being ungrateful. This caused a storm in the whole court and everyone knew about it, causing everyone to lose face and grace, and exposing the contradictions within the reformists to the court. Therefore, Wang Fuzhi of the Qing Dynasty criticized Wang Shuwen as "a small vessel that is easy to fill, and is too arrogant to keep", which indeed revealed the fatal flaw in the character of the reformist leader.
Finally, the identity and origin of the "second king" is also a less favorable factor. Wang Shuwen and Wang Gan are both from the south. Although Wang Shuwen came to Chang'an with a strong concern for the suffering of the people and an ideal of improving politics, he was not able to gain fame and was not considered a scholar. I have the honor to serve the prince all day long. When Wang Min came to the capital from the south, he still spoke Wu dialect. In addition, his short stature and mediocre appearance made it obvious that he was from a humble background. Many court officials looked down upon him, only because of his good handwriting. I was fortunate enough to be waiting for the imperial edict in the palace. In the imperial court of feudal society, it was very disadvantageous to be from a humble background and not from a professional background. Of course Wang Shuwen knew this, so as soon as he arrived in Chang'an, he claimed that he was Empress Wang Meng, a famous minister of Fu Qin Dynasty, in order to enhance his status. But most people don't believe this. They all believe that Wang Shuwen is just a villain who got in by luck. During the reform process of the two kings, they not only took the elimination of the eunuch dictatorship as a goal, but also had to communicate inside and outside the palace through the eunuch Li Zhongyan. This was somewhat contradictory and funny, and of course it made people feel less upright. Sometimes, when reform measures are being planned and introduced, things could have been planned, but the reason was based on secrets, and the plot was not surprising, and the danger of the former residence made people feel uncomfortable. Especially when the reform was in a dilemma, Wang Shuwen's mother passed away. According to the customs of feudal society, the mother had to abandon her official position and stay in mourning for three years. Hiding and not reporting it was a crime. But Wang Shuwen failed to handle this issue well.
Even though his mother had passed away, he still went to the Hanlin Academy to drink and dine with everyone. He lied that his mother was seriously ill and would take a few days off. If someone attacked and slandered him during this period, he hoped that everyone could help him. Ju Wenzhen retorted on the spot: "My lord. Since he claims to be dedicated to his country, why should he worry about being slandered by others?" At this time, two of Wang Shuwen's family members whispered to each other, "My mother is dead, but she still wants to drink here!" Ju Wenzhen found out. The next day, Wang Shuwen invited all the eunuchs to the Hanlin Academy and threatened the eunuchs during the banquet: "I am here to inform you that the holy dragon body has recovered and is currently hunting rabbits in the imperial garden. Mounting his horse is like this. Fei, just like before. Anyone who dares to dissent will be cut in half!" This method of using both soft and hard tactics, including coaxing and intimidation, is really not that clever, and it makes his personality be despised, and the orthodox court officials are getting further and further away from him. In isolation and helplessness, the only way to go is failure.