Yixing.

It has been four years since Zhou Yanru stopped the cabinet in the fourth year of Chongzhen. Although the premier was no longer in his glory, he was the leader of the Donglin for twenty years, especially as the chief minister of the cabinet for nearly four years. The wealth he accumulated was amazing, which was enough to allow him to live a peaceful life in his hometown and live a paradise of wealthy family. However, when Zhou Yanru stopped the cabinet, he was only forty years, and was at the peak of his life, he suddenly fell from the peak of power. This was inevitable that he was frustrated. After returning home, in order to avoid others' discussions, he forced himself to have fun every day and had a relationship with his disciples who came to visit. His mood had just calmed down. Unexpectedly, his wife Wu was in a serious condition and returned west.

After his wife passed away, Zhou Yanru became more and more depressed. The sorrow was greater than death. He had less interest in everything. More than a year later, Wu Zongda, a clerk in the cabinet, also resigned and returned home. Because Wu was Mrs. Zhou's uncle, the two of them got very close. His disciple Dong Tingxian attracted several famous purple clay pot artists for him, including Zhou Jishan, Chen Tingsheng and others, to bring pots into the mansion. When Zhou Yanru saw it, he was very surprised and was addicted to it. He talked about pot making skills with these craftsmen all day long.

Yixing purple clay originated in the Song Dynasty. Since the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, many famous artists have emerged since Jinsha Temple. Zhou Yanru saw these famous pots made by famous artists with extraordinary variety and wonderful styles, and ordered people to depict them into pictures and print them. He also ordered those clever slaves in the mansion to follow them to make pots. He went to check from time to time and looked like an ordinary rich man.

Since receiving a letter from Qian Qianyi in Beijing, Zhang Pu set out to Yixing after hesitation to tell the story of the major events of Donglin and Fushe. After seeing Zhou Yanru at Zhou Mansion, Zhang Pu hurriedly stepped forward to see Dali. Zhou Yanru took his hand and sat down. A little boy presented tea. Zhou Yanru took the tea and ate it and asked, "Tianru, you come here in person on this cold day, but what is the important thing?"

Zhang Pu glanced at the little boy, Zhou Yanru shook his head in his heart, waved his hand to order the little boy to retreat, and said self-deprecatingly: "I have been abandoned for a long time, and I have any information to talk about? You are so mysterious."

"The teacher is so comfortable and comfortable in his spare time." Zhang Pu heard that he guessed his purpose, but he was a little self-pitying and wondered where to start.

"I'm not a good person, I'm light!" Zhou Yanru took out a manuscript from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Pu, saying, "Look at how this manuscript is written? A scholar in Jiangyin who was studying heard that I was obsessed with purple clay, so he brought a manuscript and asked me to write the preface. I haven't finished reading it yet!"

Zhang Pu took the reading and saw the words "Yangxian Minghuo" written on the cover page. It was meticulous and clearly put a lot of effort. He slowly put the manuscript on the table and bowed, "Teacher, forgive the students for being reckless. The sage said: "A gentleman is not a tool, but the teacher is in full bloom in spring and autumn. Isn't his life a great career? The teacher once held a high position in the prime minister and was highly despised by the scholars of the world, but he was willing to have a low relationship with those craftsmen and was just accompanied by everyone. The students really sighed sadly for the teacher."

Zhou Yanru smiled and said, "Tianru, there is a lot of fun here, you just haven't understood it yet."

"Youran knows it, it seems that it is hard to tell the students about the wonderful things!" Zhang Pu smiled and said with apologies: "Do you know that the capital has been in full swing recently, and it is very lively?"

"I haven't been asking about those mundane things for a long time. Tianru, eating tea, I planted this tea tree by myself, and the tea leaves were picked by myself, what's the smell?"

"It's true. The teacher is really a talented person. He has the experience of doing one thing. One method is understood and a hundred methods are understood."

"Hahaha... I'm now a farmer hiding in the countryside, so I have to pretend!" Zhou Yanru laughed a few times, suddenly smiled and said, "The excitement of the capital is also someone else's, and it has nothing to do with me."

"Then listen to it as a joke. The teacher is good at being right, and it is absolutely right for a while. Can the student have a ready-made couple?

"Come and listen."

"A scholar in this subject wrote a couplet on the back of the test paper, which became popular in the capital and became a joke on the streets and alleys. The first couplet is: The Ministry of Rites reopened the Tianlist, and the top scholar was the second place in the flower field, and he was a little frightened. The so-called "trepidation" is the homonym of "Huang Kong". Huang means Huang Shijun and Kong means Kong Zhenyun. The two of them happened to be in high school. Can the teacher think of the second couplet?"

Zhou Yanru shook his head and said, "I can't think of this kind of couplet. If you have something to say, you can't do it by just working on words."

"The second couplet is the most exciting: the cabinet is turned into a brothel, and the turtle turtle turtle plague is always affected by plague. The turtle turtle plague is always affected by plague. The turtle turtle plague is homophonic to 'Wugui', which implies Wen Tiren, a native of Gui'an County, Wucheng, Huzhou; the turtle plague is homophonic to 'Wang Ba', which implies Wang Yingxiong, a minister from Ba County, Sichuan; the 'plague' implies Wu Zongda, a minister who flatters Wen Tiren and has no opinion; "Always suffering from plague", which means that the emperor is deceived by Wen Tiren. The great minister of the cabinet is so despised that it is not a blessing for the court?"

Zhou Yanru touched his slender beard and said, "This couplet is so refreshing, but it is just the opinion of a scholar. Wen Tiren is not comparable to mediocre people in terms of his talent, nor is it that outsiders can understand." Seeing Zhang Pu's suspicion, he continued, "I have worked with Wen Tiren for many years, and his talent is indeed superior to everyone. First, he is smart and capable, and is good at scheming. Whenever the cabinet drafts an imperial edict on behalf of the emperor, he always encounters specialized knowledge such as punishment, reputation, money, and grain, and confusing knowledge. Other cabinet members often look sad, but Wen Tiren can understand it at first glance, and he never makes any mistakes. I admire his skill.

Secondly, he did a good job on the surface, but he was indifferent. After he entered the cabinet, he was honest and cautious, and never got into bribery. To be fair, I don’t have his strengths. Thirdly, he worked hard and introduced his colleagues in the cabinet, all of whom were mediocre and just filled in the gaps, which made him stand out. Fourthly, Wen Ti Ren was good at guessing the emperor’s wishes and was able to flatter him. This was beyond the reach of people.”

"Even though he was so treacherous that he finally saw through the emperor. I heard that the imperial edict was that when he left the capital, there were only a few disciples who had fled him, and the situation was very embarrassing." Zhang Pu said while observing Zhou Yanru's expression.

Zhou Yanru's face trembled slightly. He was immersed in the memories of the past. That year, he made a big mistake for the fact that Sun Yuanhua of Denglai and the recruitment of Kong Youde. Wen Tiren took advantage of the danger and took advantage of others to take advantage of the situation and eventually fell out of favor and dismissed from office. He was so arrogant that he did not see through his wolf ambition as soon as possible. He couldn't help but gritted his teeth and said, "This is his retribution! Wen Tiren seems to be a loyal elder, but he is actually narrow-minded and will definitely be revengeful. He is the most unwilling tolerant of others. He thinks he is good at dancing, but in fact he makes too many enemies, just like a dam blocking water, and sooner or later there will be a day of collapse."

After hearing this, Zhang Pu knew it and hurriedly took the opportunity to test it: "As soon as the old thief Wen left, the teacher lost his strong rival, and he was just about to make a comeback."

Zhou Yanru waved his hand and said, "I don't have these foolish thoughts anymore. What have I experienced the fame and fortune that the world pursues? I studied in the science exam, passed the top scorer, and was the chief student, and later joined the cabinet to participate in the confidentiality. After a year of hard work, I was promoted to the chief minister. What a glory! I used to be like this, but I was just like this. What's the point? It's better to lie high up, smell the aroma of steamed new rice, and play with purple clay teapots! When I was young, I read "The Three Kingdoms" and saw Liu Chan saying that he was happy and did not miss Shu, and secretly mocked him for his lack of ambition. Now I think about it. Enjoyment and blessings are human nature, so why bother myself!"

Zhang Pu had heard that Zhou Yanru had newly taken a concubine, a young and beautiful widow. Less than a year after her husband died, he couldn't stand the loneliness of the spring boudoir and made an appointment to elope with others. The man hired a sportsman to carry the sedan chair for the wedding and passed by the door. The widow pretended to be watching someone marry, and went out to sit in the sedan chair and left in a row. The widow's mother-in-law was shocked and went to sue the official. The widow was afraid of arresting the yamen, so she joined the Zhou mansion overnight. Zhou Yanru died of his wife. When she was lonely, she was greedy for her beauty and took her as a concubine.

Thinking of this, Zhang Pu smiled slightly and said, "The gentle country is the most slaughtering heroic aspirations. It seems that the teacher is unable to avoid the vulgarity." He took out a red sheet from his sleeve and placed it gently on the table.

Zhou Yanru picked up and looked at it, and couldn't help but be furious and cursed: "What's wrong with that widow voluntarily staying in my mansion? Why didn't the government do this? I was so lenient, a small Taoist platform didn't know how to avoid it. He said such stupid words by name on Zhu Dan. I fell at home and waited open the door of the mansion to see how bold he was and dared to come and catch people!"

Zhang Pu laughed secretly, knowing that it had touched his pain, and said, "Teacher doesn't have to be angry. If this matter is alarmed, no matter which family the woman has to be disseminated, it will be a bad reputation for the teacher. How noble the teacher's identity is, it will never be able to show up in court. Such a small matter will be left to the disciples to deal with." After taking Zhu Dan, he tore it a few hands to pieces and throw it to the ground.

"You, how dare you tear Zhu Dan?" Zhou Yanru was shocked.

Zhang Pu said calmly: "It's okay, Zhang Daotai was originally a disciple of his disciple and a member of the Fushe Society. The disciple went to the yamen on the way, and just as the widow's mother-in-law came to the yamen again, he had to issue a list of Zhu and brought it to me when he saw it. There is no need to mind a small matter, but if the teacher indulged in the tenderness of his children and could not get up, the students would be afraid that there would be no disaster in the future. The teacher was in his prime and was afraid that he would be afraid of being replaced. If someone was like the old thief Wen framed Qian Muzhai, he would have to kill him and be quickly, how would the teacher deal with it?"

Zhou Yanru was startled, frowned for a moment, and gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! I will listen to you. As long as there is the emperor's will, I will never refuse."

"Students are raising money to clear the joints."

"How much do I need? I have silver here." Zhou Yanru has silver. If he could buy the position of the chief assistant, he would not care about moving out. Anyway, as long as he became the chief assistant, the silver would come back in a blink of an eye.

Zhang Pu hurriedly said, "No, the teacher's tree attracts wind, and I don't know how many eyes there are in the world staring at it! If the investigation of the Dongchang and Jinyiwei will be a big help. The students have persuaded a few like-minded people to take out some money. Mr. Muzhai, come here, Meicun and the three of them raised 30,000 taels, Feng Quan, Hou Xun and Ruan Dacheng each paid 10,000 taels."

"You dare to use the money from Tianru, Feng and Ruan. This is where Fushe is higher than the Donglin Party. The Donglin Party said it was abusing Wei Zhongxian, but it was actually a loss in the opinion of the portal!" Zhou Yanru sighed a little emotion.

Zhang Pu nodded and said, "If you can use it for me, your students will not be able to ask for it. How can you refuse? Now you have raised 60,000 taels of silver and are preparing to go north to Beijing. However, the Central Plains are currently rife in the Central Plains, and the Jianghuai River is not peaceful, and the road is uneasy, so you have to wait for some days."

In fact, Wen Tiren was really unlucky. He was extremely honest. The only house in the original Shiheng was ordered by the emperor to take over. In addition, he had no more wealth. Compared with Zhou Yanru's amazing family property accumulated in four years as the chief minister, Wen's prime minister was the most honest prime minister since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Wen also wanted to do things, but his failure to form a clique made him only a few trusted people help him. Faced with the drag of the Donglin, what could he do? Just a levy of commercial tax was raised six times in four years, but he never passed the court discussion. As a supplement, what could he do? The Ming Dynasty had internal and external troubles, but wasn't Wen Tiren's internal and external troubles?

............

After Wen Tiren stopped prime minister, Wu Changshi immediately wrote a letter to Zhang Pu, advising him to encourage Zhou Yanru to come back. His letter came after Qian Qianyi, only two days apart. In the letter, he said that the gentleman Qian Qianyi, the righteous man, was dismissed from office after being slandered, and Wen Zhenmeng was excluded after three months of entering the cabinet, resulting in the gentleman in the southeast being constantly persecuted. It was not enough to eliminate the disaster without Zhou Yanru's comeback. Wu Changshi also revealed in his letter that he had made friends with Cao Huachun, the eunuch of the East Factory, and had set up a line with Wang Dehua, and was spared no effort to pave the way for Zhou Yanru to come back. In addition, the governor of the five provinces, Hong Chengchou, and the prime minister of the five provinces, Lu Xiangsheng, expressed his support for Zhou Yanru's comeback. Hou Xun, who was in charge of the Liaodong Army, even paid for the money. As long as Zhou Yanru was willing, there was almost no obstacle to his comeback.

On February 17, under the operation of the officials of the Donglin Party, Chongzhen held a court meeting on the platform and ordered the court officials to promote a new chief minister. As a result, under the leadership of the Donglin Party, although the court officials introduced by the court used both internal and external functions, none of them satisfied Chongzhen. When the emperor was not satisfied with the candidate, the Donglin Party began to elect the real candidate Zhou Yanru. Chongzhen did not agree on the spot, as long as the court officials recommended the two to compete.

When Zhang Pu and Wu Changshi were in various activities for Zhou Yanru, Feng Quan of Zhuozhou, Hou Xun, who were still in the Liaodong Army in Henan, Ruan Dacheng and others contributed funds to raise 60,000 taels of silver to open up the joints. In the inner court, the eunuch Wang Dehua and Wang Chengen of the Bianzhu both expressed their support for Zhou Yanru. Cao Huachun, who was still waiting and unwilling to make a comeback, finally spoke up for Zhou Yanru under the pressure of the two bigwigs in the inner court.

Under the unanimous "vocals" of the inner court and the outer dynasty, on the 20th, Chongzhen issued an order to summon former Grand Secretary Zhou Yanru, Zhang Zhifa, and He Fengsheng to enter the court. On the night when Zhou Yanru received the imperial edict at home, he suddenly dreamed that his wife Wu, who had been dead for ten years, tried his best to dissuade him and not to come out again. He was skeptical. Wu said, if you don't believe it, you can go to the same place with me to see it. Zhou Yanru went with him and saw an old monk with a rope tied to his head and neck, and woke up in horror. This dream made him believe that his future was unlucky and he was afraid of taking office.

Zhou Yanru entered Beijing in early March, and his new official title was Shao Shi and Prince Taishi, Minister of Personnel, and Grand Secretary of the Zhongji Palace. When he first paid homage to the Emperor, Zhou Yanru made a confident statement of the policy program, which was very clear. The most important things include: reducing the grain and white grain owed by farmers, reducing the taxes arrears of the people over the years, all places that suffered from war and famine reduced the land tax this year, pardoned criminals with less than exile, summoned officials who were dismissed for advice, etc.

Chongzhen was very satisfied with the hearing, and immediately approved it one by one and gave him a banquet to wash away his dust. After Zhou Yanru said goodbye, Chongzhen suddenly turned around and said to Wang Chengen on the side, "He will do it!" The implication was that except for Zhou Yanru, Chongzhen could no longer find a more suitable candidate for the chief minister of the cabinet.
Chapter completed!