Those Things in the Ming Dynasty Part 4 Whitewashing the Peace _ Chapter 22 Victory
disciple
It seems that everything has become clear, Lu Bing is dead, Yan Shifan has left, the emperor is tired of it, and the good days of Yan Song, the old Jianghu, have finally come to an end.
But Xu Jie found that even though the situation was extremely favorable to him, the opportunity he had been waiting for for a long time still did not appear. Decades of political fighting experience told him that if he launched an attack, he would pursue it to the end, but when he was sure of victory
Before, never act rashly.
Jiajing was inseparable from Yan Song. From the seventeenth year of Jiajing (1538), for more than 20 years, Yan Song and he got along almost day and night. They knew his temper and preferences, and a kind of friendship had been formed between them.
Beyond the relationship between monarch and minister, Yan Song was able to gain Jiajing's full trust and use this trust to eliminate dissidents and seek benefits.
In other words, even if there is a rift between them, it does not mean that Yan Song will be finished. At most, he will just curse a few words and give him a punishment. The so-called dismissal from office and property raids is really a distant fairy tale.
Xu Jie knew this clearly, so he was not in a hurry. He had been waiting for twenty years and did not care about waiting a few more years. The advantage was already on his side, and what he needed now was just the final kick.
Waiting is no longer something to be afraid of. The bloody storms of the past years have made him understand that in the endurance race of politics, no matter how prosperous the moment is, only the one who persists to the end is the real winner. Compared with Yan Song, he
There is one biggest advantage - youth.
It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, life is still very long. If I can't fight you to death, I can survive you to death.
With the intention of waiting to bid farewell to Yan Song's body, Xu Jie began another round of waiting. He originally thought he would have to wait for a long time this time, but not long after, the arrival of an uninvited guest broke all the tranquility.
Xu Jie had always had doubts about what Tang Shunzhi said before leaving. He wanted to ask what happened, but unexpectedly, in the 39th year of Jiajing (1560), this mysterious comrade died due to overwork.
Everyone is destined to die, but at some point you have to leave a message and explain things clearly before leaving, leaving behind this mystery of what happened. Just when Xu Jie was scratching his head and wondering what was going on, that person really appeared.
It should be said that this is a person who is not unfamiliar to Xu Jie, although they have never met before. His name is He Xinyin.
More than thirty years ago, the great Wang Shouren left the Four Instructions on the Mind on the Tianquan Bridge, and passed away shortly afterwards. However, facts have proved that thoughts are eternal, and his Mind has survived tenaciously, and
Prevalent in the world.
But according to the glorious tradition of academia, as long as it is something like ideological theory, there will definitely be disputes and sects, and Xinxue is no exception.
After Wang Shouren's death, his disciples split into two factions due to different opinions. The right faction was recognized by later generations as the authentic descendant, also known as the Jiangyou School. But surprisingly, the representative of this faction was not the direct descendant of Wang Shouren.
Disciple, he didn’t even become a disciple at all, he was Xu Jie’s teacher Nie Bao.
Although his name is unfair and his words are inconsistent, Nie Bao has become one of the academic leaders of Jiangyou School with his years of hard study and solid academic foundation. Qian Dehong, the two direct disciples who received the true teachings on Tianquan Bridge,
Together with Wang Ji, they partially revised Wang Shouren's theory and became the left wing of Wang School, also known as the Zhejiang Middle School School. Therefore, although Xu Jie and Tang Shunzhi were both second-generation disciples of Wang Shouren, they belonged to different factions.
But it turns out that it was not the above two factions that had the greatest influence on later generations, but another faction that was inconspicuous at the time - the Taizhou School.
As the second branch of the left, the Taizhou School had the most radical and sharp views, and the founder of this school was Wang Gen, Wang Shouren's most restless disciple.
This man who once wanted to make fun of Wang Shouren and swaggered through the market in white clothes and white hats was really not a man who lived and worked in peace and contentment. Under his explanation, Xin Xue became a sharp sword against feudal ethics. He not only criticized the Four Books and Five Classics,
Even the sage Confucius has become the target of criticism, and He Xinyin is the descendant of this school.
The gang issue is introduced here. It can be seen that good people are good people. Comrade Wang Shouren has only been dead for more than thirty years, but he has created so many sects. Moreover, because of their different views, they often engage in debates and scold you to death, so although everyone
He is from the Wang family, but his relationship is not very good.
As the most peculiar figure in the Taizhou School, He Xinyin has an extremely complicated background.
He Xinyin, formerly known as Liang Ruyuan, was born in the 11th year of Zhengde (1517). Although this man was not a high-ranking official and had an ordinary appearance, he was an extremely powerful person. He had extensive contacts and complicated social relations. In today's terms, he was a black and white man.
A character that everyone can enjoy.
What is even more frightening is that this man has no faith and no taboos. He despises the imperial power, does not believe in gods, and severely criticizes Confucius. The so-called books of sages regarded as classics by scholars are just a bunch of shit in his eyes, so
In addition to his real name, he also got a nickname - "He Kuang".
In addition, he also hated feudal ethics, and once publicly advocated the liberation of individuality. He believed that the government could not play any role other than messing around, and it was better to abolish it. At that time, he was roughly regarded as an anarchist and a dangerous social element.
Precisely because of his radical views and his love of making trouble, even comrades of the Taizhou School did not like him. For example, Zhao Zhenji, a high-ranking official in the imperial court at that time and later the Minister of Rites, and the cabinet scholar Zhao Zhenji, although he belonged to the same school, extremely disliked this wild and unruly scholar.
Unruly brothers, we will never interact with each other until old age and death.
But no matter what the differences are, in the final analysis, it is just a matter of perspective. As the successors of Wang Xue, they always adhere to the same belief and courage: if King Ning rebels, overthrow King Ning; if Yang Tinghe is domineering, drive Yang Tinghe away. Although the situation has changed, the tide has changed.
The tide ebbs and flows, but remains the mainstay and remains proud.
Now it's Yan Song, who kills innocent people, has many party members, and is in a high and powerful position. Wang Shouren's spiritual flame is rekindled: he upholds the right path, dares to fight with dragons and snakes with bare hands!
It was under the reflection of this blazing flame that Xu Jie, a disciple of the Jiangyou School, He Xinyin, a disciple of the Taizhou School, and Tang Shunzhi, a disciple of the dead Zhejiang Middle School, eliminated all their sectarian opinions and formed one sect and three sects.
Finally united again for a common goal.
Contrary to Xu Jie's expectation, He Xinyin understood the current situation very well. They once again conducted a detailed comparison of the strengths of the enemy and ourselves, and then discovered that the power of Wang Xuemen was so powerful.
Apart from those little fish and shrimps and Xu Jie himself, Ouyang De, the Minister of Rites who once appeared in the code words,
He is a true believer in Xinxue, and Xu Jie’s teacher Nie Bao also served as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Taibao of the Crown Prince. If these old guys are ignored, there are also Zhao Zhenji, the right minister of the Ministry of Hubu, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Juzheng’s elders.
Classmate Li Chunfang and so on.
However, the problem is that although there are many ministers and deputy ministers among this group of people, they do not have geniuses like Lu Bing and Yang Bo, so they cannot be effective at all. The only one who can really come in handy is Xu Jie himself.
Perhaps fearing that Xu Jie was not depressed enough, He Xinyin further pointed out a more cruel fact:
Even you, Xu Jie, are of no use.
For more than ten years, you have been thinking about the same question: how to get rid of Yan Song. You have worked hard and endured, just to find the answer to this question, but in fact, the answer has been right in front of you, but you have turned a blind eye.
In fact, the answer to the mystery is very simple: in this world, the only person who can get rid of Yan Song is the emperor.
Jiajing was over fifty years old and was no longer the man who played tricks on his ministers. Although he was addicted to Taoism and accustomed to Yan Song's service and confusion, he was still an emperor, a smart emperor.
And under the control of such a person, no one could openly get rid of Yan Song, except the emperor himself.
In other words, even though Yan Song is no longer trusted, even if the time is ripe, to completely deal with Yan Song, you must get the emperor's approval, and with Xu Jie's influence, this is really an impossible task.
Xu Jie reluctantly agreed with He Xinyin's point of view, but he was not discouraged because he knew that the method might be in the heart of the person in front of him:
"Then do you have any idea?"
"Yes, I have a way." He Xinyin replied confidently.
Mystery
In this world, everyone will have things they don't know, no matter how smart they are, including Jiajing.
Once they have a question but cannot get an answer, people's first reaction is to ask someone. But if no one can answer the question, then who should they ask?
Jiajing encountered such a problem. He had many questions, such as what is the future of the country, whether there will be a famine next year, how long can I live, etc. The ministers did not dare and could not answer these questions because he was the emperor, and
He is very headstrong and will be beheaded if he tries to be smart.
But this didn't bother Jiajing. He quickly thought of a way to solve the problem. Since he couldn't ask people, he asked God.
Although the gods do not live in the same community as us, do not have phone calls, or have access to the Internet, through long-term scientific research by our people, we have finally found ways to contact the gods, such as high-tech methods such as dancing to the gods and upper body, and have become famous as
The dross and rubbish have been passed down to this day.
But the above methods are all used by the common people, and the emperor naturally has his own unique method, and the system in Jiajing is called Fuji.
The so-called fuqi is a mysterious thing. The general method is that the emperor writes the questions he wants to ask on paper, then seals it, and transfers it to the Taoist priests by the eunuchs. The Taoist priests then burn it in public. The power is supposed to be transferred to the gods.
This is the end of asking questions.
So where can you find the answer? You can't expect a brick to fall from the sky with the words "I don't know" written on it.
The correct procedure is this. First find a sand table and build a shelf on the sand table. There are two branches on the shelf, which are held by two eunuchs with their fingers. When the Taoist priest burns the emperor's question, no, it is handed over to the gods.
, the two of them immediately had a stroke, closed their eyes tightly, and let their fingers scribble on the sand. This is the answer from the gods.
Some people may ask, what should I do if the paintings are different? Let me tell you, it doesn't matter, the emperor will naturally think about it. After all, we can't expect the calligraphy level of the gods.
For more than 20 years, the emperor has been communicating with the gods in this way, exchanging experiences and asking questions. So the question arises again. With Jiajing's character, how can he study the inexplicable symbols that appear in Fuji for decades?
?
Jiajing is not a patient person, so the answer is that what he saw was not a ghost glyph, but a recognizable Chinese character.
In fact, you can write a standard answer by resting your fingers on a branch, but it requires one condition - intentionality. As long as you are not possessed by a ghost, as long as you are still conscious, your wrist can allow you to write a clear answer.
Chinese characters, of course, this is not the intention of the gods, but your own answer.
In other words, the so-called fairy hotline that Mr. Jiajing worked hard to obtain was just the work of a few Taoist priests and eunuchs. However, because he looked forward to the message from God too much, he still believed in it without regrets for decades.
In fact, it’s no wonder that the Taoist priests and eunuchs have no choice but to write those boring questions and no one is allowed to read them. Instead, they ask gods to reply to you. If you doodle a lot and you can’t understand it, you will lose your temper if you don’t understand it. Then it will happen naturally.
It's the servants who suffer, whether it's Taoist priests or eunuchs. Everyone comes out to hang out, just to make a living. Why should we suffer as a human being? Let's just fool around.
In this trick, the most critical person is not the emperor, but the Taoist priest who burned the paper.
Because he was the person who referred the emperor's issues and was also the most important link, this position was always held by the emperor's most favored Taoist priests, such as Shao Yuanjie before, Tao Zhongwen later, and now Lan Daoxing.
As his name suggests, Lan Daoxing was indeed a man of good deeds. It was said that he was very accurate in fortune telling and had a great reputation, so he was elected to serve the emperor in the palace and took on the job of burning paper.
The first step of He Xinyin's plan was realized.
Although Mr. Lan Daoxing is a Taoist priest, in addition to his belief in Taishang Laojun, he also believes in Wang Shouren.
As a Taoist priest and a friend of He Xinyin, Lan Daoxing seemed to be as interested in the study of mind as he was in practicing Taoism and refining alchemy. As a loyal disciple of Wang Xue, they had a common enemy - Yan Song.
The political situation was the most complicated moment. Yan Song lost power and began to shrink his defense. Xu Jie gained power, but could not eradicate his opponent. In this fog, the sober and wise He Xinyin finally found the only breakthrough - Jiajing.
Jiajing is an overly smart person. He is wary of ministers and hates eunuchs, but he also has his own weakness - Taoist priests. Only Taoist priests can gain his trust, and only Taoist priests can truly influence his decisions.
So during a support ceremony not long after, Comrade Jiajing had an in-depth communication with the gods.
This time, Comrade Jiajing raised a very profound question: Why has the world failed to achieve great governance?
Of course, according to the procedures, the question he raised was sealed and only the gods knew about it. However, when he handed the note to Comrade Lan Daoxing for forwarding, since the gods were on a business trip, Lan Daxian naturally did his part and temporarily served as the spokesperson.
Role.
So when the paper with the question written on it was burned in public, under the control of the stroke eunuch, the god's answer was revealed on the sand table:
"Treacherous ministers are in charge, and virtuous ministers are not!" (Special reminder: The punctuation is kindly provided by me!)
Seeing the god's words, Jiajing immediately wrote a second note:
"Who is the traitor? Who is the sage?"
The god answered again:
"Treacherous officials are like Yan Song, and wise men are like Xu Jie."
From this point of view, Yan Song and Xu Jie are so famous that even the gods know about them.
The deception continues, but if you think that Comrade Jiajing is so easy to fool, you are wrong. This extremely smart emperor questioned:
"If that's the case, why aren't traitors punished by God?"
I believe that when Lan Daoxing peeked at this question, he was extremely nervous, but he did not panic, but gave a perfect answer:
"Leave it to the emperor to commit suicide!"
It turned out that God respected him, Jiajing was finally satisfied, and Yan Song's fate was sealed.
Since God doesn't like Yan Song anymore, it's better to let him go away, otherwise God probably won't sign and seal his immortality report. This is roughly what Comrade Jiajing really felt after that day.
The news soon reached Xu Jie's ears, and he immediately became excited because he knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for for more than ten years had finally arrived.
So he found Zou Yinglong.
"Now is the time to take action."
When Zou Yinglong heard this, he agreed without hesitation. After humiliation and forbearance, the time to fight back finally arrived.
"I will write a memorial to impeach Yan Song immediately!" He was gearing up, ready to do it right away.
Xu Jie stopped him and smiled mysteriously:
"Of course I have to write a bullet, but the target is not Yan Song."
Zou Yinglong was stunned for a moment, then nodded. Jiang is still hot, which is true. The real target should be another person.
He immediately rushed home and wrote the famous memorial overnight. Although in history, the literary talent and popularity of this memorial were far inferior to those of Yang Jisheng and Hai Rui, it was still effective.
Soon, Jiajing saw this wonderful article, which really got straight to the point:
"The Minister of Industry, Yan Shifan, relied on his father's power to gain endless patents!"
Since the article is too long, I won’t list them here. After listing many crimes, Zou Yinglong wrote a sentence that is very rare in bullets:
"I request you to behead the emperor and hang him in the market, as a sign of cruelty and disloyalty!"
The knives were all exposed, and he was really murderous.
Although Brother Zou was acting under orders, he is still worthy of praise, because at the end of this memorial, there is this sentence:
"Gouchen's words are untrue, but he is willing to commit suicide!"
This is the legendary risk of death. To sum up the central idea of this article, it means nothing more than this:
Yan Shifan is a bad person with many crimes. Please kill him, Your Majesty. If anything I say is untrue, please kill me!
The anger that had accumulated for twenty years finally broke out. There is no need to endure it anymore, and there is no need to retreat anymore. Life, death, success and failure all depend on this one deal!
The hammer hits, the right person, at the right time, hits the right target.
Xu Jie was really extremely smart. He knew that Yan Song had fallen out of favor, but he also knew that after more than twenty years of friendship, Jiajing would never have the heart to attack Yan Song. Therefore, in order to completely defeat Yan Song, he must first defeat Yan Shifan.
Yan Shifan was Yan Song's think tank and the pillar of the Yan Party, and more importantly, Jiajing had no reason to be soft on this person.
Soon, the emperor showed his anger. He issued several edicts, strictly ordering Yan Shifan to be arrested and imprisoned. Yan Song also received an edict, to the following effect: Although your son is guilty, I believe it has nothing to do with you.
It's innocent, but you are his father after all, and you have to bear some educational responsibilities anyway, so I understand you. Now that all your official positions are removed, you don't have to take care of things anymore. You can retire home and take care of yourself in peace! As for your retirement
I will also pay wages on time.
At this time, it was May of the 41st year of Jiajing (1562).
After receiving the imperial edict, Yan Song was struck by thunder. He had expected that such a day would come, but he did not expect that it would come so quickly and with such strong momentum. But an old gangster is an old gangster, and he resorted to his old methods again. On the one hand, he petitioned for apology, but secretly he
Shang Mi Zhe pleaded with the emperor, saying that he was in good health and could still work for a few more years (a few more years), hoping to continue to shine and shine for the Ming Dynasty.
But what he was waiting for was not the emperor's retention and move, but the urging of the court officials: He is already retired, why aren't you on your way? Get out of here!
In this way, Yan Song, an evergreen figure in the political arena who had been around for half his life and served as the chief minister for more than ten years, finally fell. It was five years after Shen Lian's death, seven years after Yang Jisheng's death, and fourteen years after Xia Yan's death.
But victory finally came.
History tells us this truth time and time again:
Justice and fairness may be late, but they will never be absent from class.
The end?
Everything went so smoothly, Yan Song fell, Yan Shifan was imprisoned, the Yan Party was torn apart, and victory already belonged to Xu Jie.
When Zou Yinglong became famous because of his hit in the memorial, Yan Shifan was saddened and sang prison songs, and the court was full of joy, Xu Jie went to a place no one expected to visit a special guest.
He went to Yan Song's home, and the purpose of going there was to comfort Yan Song's injured heart.
Like everyone else, Yan Song was greatly surprised, but apart from the surprise, he was also grateful. At this time, Comrade Xu Jie was still so generous, and he was really a good person, so he nodded and thanked him profusely.
What is certain is that Xu Jie is not insane, let alone suddenly benevolent. As the initiator of all this, the reason why he is like this is just because he knows very well that everything is not over yet.