It has been four years since Zhou Yanru resigned from the cabinet in the fourth year of Chongzhen. Although he was no longer the first minister, he was the leader of Donglin during his twenty-year official career, especially after serving as the chief minister of the cabinet for nearly four years. His net worth is astonishing, enough for him to live a comfortable life in his hometown and live the life of a rich man in a paradise. However, Zhou Yanru was only forty when he resigned from the government. He was at the peak of his life, but he suddenly fell from the peak of power. This was inevitable. After returning to his hometown, in order to avoid other people's comments, he put on a cheerful face every day and kept in touch with the disciples who came to visit him. Just as he calmed down after his resignation, his wife, Wu, unexpectedly fell seriously ill and passed away and returned to the west.
After his wife's death, Zhou Yanru became more and more depressed. There was nothing more sad than his death, and he lost interest in everything. More than a year later, Wu Zongda, his party member in the cabinet, also resigned and returned home. Because Wu was Mrs. Zhou's uncle, the two of them kept in contact. Very recently, his disciple Dong Tingxian recruited several famous purple sand pot masters, including Zhou Jishan, Chen Tingsheng and other sand-making masters, to bring pots to his residence. When Zhou Yanru saw them, he was so surprised that he indulged himself in them and discussed pot-making skills with these craftsmen all day long.
Yixing Zisha originated in the Song Dynasty. Since the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, and since the Jinsha Temple, famous masters have emerged in large numbers. Zhou Yanru saw that the pots made by these famous craftsmen were varied and wonderful, so he ordered people to copy them into pictures and publish them for future generations. He also ordered the pots in his house to be made. The clever servant followed them in making pots, and he went over to check on them from time to time, just like an ordinary rich man.
After receiving the letter from Qian Qianyi in the capital, Zhang Pu, after all kinds of hesitation, set off to Yixing in person to talk about the important matter of Donglin and the restoration of society. After arriving at Zhou Mansion to see Zhou Yanru, Zhang Pu hurriedly stepped forward to see Zhou Yanru. Zhou Yanru took his hand and sat down. A child offered tea. Zhou Yanru took a sip of the tea and asked, "Tianru, you came here in person on this cold day, but what's the urgent matter?"
Zhang Pu glanced at the child, Zhou Yanru shook his head inwardly, waved his hand to order the child to retreat, and laughed at himself: "I have been disabled for a long time, what secrets can I talk about, you are too mysterious."
"Teacher, you are living so comfortably and comfortably." Zhang Pu guessed the reason for his visit, but there was some self-pity in his words, and he was thinking about where to start.
"It's so easy to be without an official!" Zhou Yanru took out a volume of manuscript from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Pu: "Look at how well this manuscript is written. There was a scholar studying in Jiangyin who heard that I was obsessed with purple sand and brought a copy of it. I was asked to write a preface to the manuscript, but I haven’t read it yet!”
Zhang Pu took it and flipped through it. He saw the official characters "Yangxian Teapot Series" on the cover page. They were meticulous and it was obvious that a lot of effort had been put into it. He slowly put the manuscript on the table and said with a cupped hand: "Teacher , Forgive students for being reckless, the sage said: A gentleman has no talent, but the teacher is in his prime, how can his life career be as great as that of Zisha? The teacher once held a high position, and was highly respected by the world's scholars, but he was willing to hang out with those craftsmen and lowly servants, and was indifferent to everyone. The students really feel sad for the teacher."
Zhou Yanru smiled and said: "Tianru, there is a lot of fun in this, you just haven't understood it yet."
"Youran Xinxin, it seems that the wonderful thing is difficult to tell the students!" Zhang Pu said with a smile: "Teacher, do you know that the capital has been very busy recently?"
"I haven't asked about those mundane things for a long time. Tianru, let's have some tea. I planted the tea tree myself and picked the tea leaves myself. How does it smell?"
"It's really good. The teacher is really talented. He has a lot of experience in doing one thing, and he knows everything about it."
"Hahaha... Now that I am a farmer hiding in the countryside, I have to put on a show!" Zhou Yanru laughed a few times, then suddenly his smile faded and he said: "The excitement in the capital belongs to others and has nothing to do with me. .”
"Then it should be treated as a joke. A good teacher can always be right. There is no difference in time. The student has a ready-made pair. Can the teacher be right?"
"Come and listen."
"There is a scholar in the northern province of this department who wrote a couplet on the back of the test paper, which became popular in the capital and became a joke in the streets. The first couplet is: The Ministry of Rites reopened the ranking list, and the number one scholar was ranked second. I was a little scared. The so-called 'fear' is' The homophonic pronunciation of Huang Kong' is that Huang means Huang Shijun and Kong means Kong Zhenyun. By chance, the two of them ended up in high school. Can the teacher come up with the second line of the couplet?"
Zhou Yanru shook his head and said: "I can't imagine that these couplets are specific pairs. They must have something to say. It's impossible to do it just by focusing on the words."
"The second couplet is the most exciting: the cabinet is transformed into a brothel, and the tortoise with eight strips is always plagued. The tortoise with eight strips is always plagued. 'Tortoise' is homophonic to 'Wugui', alluding to Wen Tiren, a native of Gui'an County, Wucheng, Huzhou; 'Tortoise' 'Wang Ba', which is homophonic to 'Wang Ba', alludes to the cabinet minister Wang Yingxiong from Ba County, Sichuan; '篾片' alludes to the cabinet minister Wu Zongda who flatters Wen Tiren and has no independent opinion; 'always suffers from plague' means that the emperor was deceived by Wen Tiren. Hehe How can it be a blessing for the imperial court to have a cabinet scholar who is so despised?"
Zhou Yanru stroked his slender beard and said: "The scolding in this couplet is quite heartfelt, but it is just a scholar's opinion. In terms of Wen Tiren's talent, it is indeed beyond the comparison of mediocre people, and it is beyond the reach of outsiders." He said. Seeing a suspicious look on Zhang Pu's face, he continued: "I have worked with Wen Tiren for many years, and his talents are indeed outstanding. First, he is shrewd and capable, and good at scheming. Whenever the cabinet drafts edicts on behalf of the emperor, he often encounters special issues such as punishment, name, money, and food. There are many names of knowledge, and the clues are confusing. Other cabinet members often have sad faces, but Wen Tiren understands it clearly at a glance and makes no mistakes. I admire his agility.
Secondly, he does a good job on the surface, but everything is watertight. After he joined the cabinet, he was honest and cautious, and never took bribes. To be fair, I don't have his strengths. Thirdly, he worked hard, and all the cabinet colleagues he brought in were mediocre. , He used the Yu indiscriminately, which made him stand out from the crowd. Fourthly, Wen Tiren was good at figuring out the emperor's will and had the skills to please him. This is beyond the reach of others."
"It is true that he is a cunning old man, and the emperor finally discovered it. I heard about the imperial edict, and when he left the capital, only a few disciples went to see him off. 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 recollection of the past. That year, he made a big mistake by delegating Sun Yuanhua and recruiting Kong Youde. Wen Tiren took advantage of others' danger, added insult to injury, and eventually fell out of favor and was dismissed. He was really too trusting. , who did not see through his wolfish ambitions as early as possible, could not help but gritted his teeth and said: "This is his retribution! Wen Tiren looks like a loyal and honest man, but in fact he is narrow-minded, will retaliate, and is the most intolerant of others. He thinks he is good at dancing, but in fact he has too many enemies, like a dam to block water. , sooner or later the day will collapse."
After hearing this, Zhang Pu knew what he was talking about, and hurriedly took the opportunity to test it out: "Once the old thief Wen is gone, the teacher will have no strong rival, and he will be able to make a comeback."
Zhou Yanru waved his hands and said: "I don't want to have such fantasies anymore. I haven't experienced all the fame and fortune that the world is chasing. I studied in the scientific examination, won the number one scholar, was the chief at the Lu Ming Banquet, and later joined the cabinet to participate in secrets. After one year What an honor it is to be promoted to the position of chief minister in such a short period of time! What’s the point of once rising to the top and rising again? It’s better to lie down on a high bed, smell the aroma of steamed new rice, and play with a purple clay pot! When I was young, When I read "Three Kingdoms", I saw Liu Chan saying that he was happy here and did not miss Shu, and secretly laughed at him for his lack of ambition. Now that I think about it, I feel ashamed. It is human nature to enjoy happiness and receive blessings, so why should I wrong myself!"
Zhang Pu had long heard that Zhou Yanru had a new concubine, a young and beautiful widow. Less than a year after her husband died, he couldn't stand the loneliness of the concubine and made an appointment to elope with them. The man hired a strong man to carry her. The wedding sedan passed by the door with the sound of wind blowing. The widow pretended to be watching someone get married, went out, got into the sedan, and left quickly. The widow's mother-in-law was alarmed and went to complain to the officials. The widow was afraid of being arrested by the Yamen, so she went to Zhou's house overnight. , Zhou Yanru's wife died, and when he was lonely, he was greedy for her beauty and took her as his concubine.
Thinking of this, Zhang Pu smiled slightly and said: "Heroism is the most wasteful thing in the gentle village. It seems that the teacher is not immune to the vulgarity." He took out a red slip from his sleeve and put it gently on the table.
Zhou Yanru pinched it and looked at it. He couldn't help but became furious and cursed: "That widow voluntarily stayed in my house. What's wrong? What is the government doing in this muddy water when there is no reason? The management is too lenient. A small way Tai didn't even know what to say, and he named people on the list and said such stupid things. I waited at home with the door wide open to see how bold he was, and how dare he come to arrest people!"
Zhang Pu laughed secretly, knowing that he had touched a sore spot, and said: "Teacher, there is no need to be angry. If this matter alarms the government, no matter which family the woman breaks off with, if word spreads, it will also stain the teacher's reputation. How noble the teacher's status is, In the end, we have to show up in court? It is better to leave such trivial matters to the disciples." He took the Zhu Dan, tore it into pieces, and threw it on the ground.
"You, how dare you tear Zhu Dan into pieces?" Zhou Yanru was shocked.
Zhang Pu said calmly: "It doesn't matter. That Zhang Daotai was my disciple and a member of Fushe. My disciple went to the Yamen on the way, and happened to catch up with the widow's mother-in-law who came to the Yamen again to make a noise. He had no choice but to issue a Zhu Dan and give him the order. I saw it and brought it over. It’s a trivial matter, don’t mind it, but if the teacher indulges in the tenderness of his children and cannot sleep, there will be some serious disaster in the future, and the students will be unable to help. It is reasonable for the teacher to be jealous in his prime. The cabinet ministers are uneasy about their positions because of the teacher's presence, for fear of being replaced. If someone is like the old thief Wen who framed Qian Muzhai, he will definitely kill him and then hurry up. How should the teacher deal with it?"
Zhou Yanru was startled, frowned for a moment, and gritted his teeth and said: "Okay! I listen to you. As long as there is the emperor's will, I will never refuse."
"Students are collecting money to clear their joints."
"How much do you need? I have a lot of money here." Zhou Yanru has a lot of money. If the money can buy the position of chief assistant, he doesn't care about moving out. Anyway, as long as he becomes the chief assistant, the money will come back in an instant.
Zhang Pu said hurriedly: "You must not do it. The teacher's tree is so big that it attracts the wind. There are so many eyes in the world watching! If Dongchang and Jinyiwei detect it, it will be a disservice. The student has persuaded several like-minded people to get some money. Come out, Mr. Muzhai. When you come, the three people from Meicun have raised thirty thousand taels, and Feng Quan, Hou Xun, and Ruan Dacheng have also raised ten thousand taels each."
"You dare to use the money of Tianru, Feng and Ruan. This is why Fushe is superior to the Donglin Party. The Donglin Party said it was killed by Wei Zhongxian, but in fact it was because of the sect that it suffered!" Zhou Yanru sighed with emotion. road.
Zhang Pu nodded and said: "You can be used by me. It's a dream for students. How can I refuse? Now I have collected 60,000 taels of silver and am preparing to go north to Beijing. However, there are rogue bandits in the Central Plains recently, and the Jianghuai River is not peaceful. There is no peace on the road, and we have to wait. Some days."
"It is a troubled time for internal and external troubles!" Zhou Yanru shook his head and sighed. He had always been worried about being squeezed out by Wen Tiren. He had no chance before, but now that Wen Tiren has been dismissed, and there are so many people supporting him, he has already
My calm heart suddenly became hot again.
........
During Wen Tiren's fourth year as chief minister, he suppressed the Donglin Party a lot. The reason was that although he was the chief minister, the important positions in the government and central government were all Donglin Party members. The orders of the cabinet could not be effectively implemented by the six ministries. This made Yi Xin
Wen Tiren, who wanted to do something, felt that if he wanted to really make a difference, he had to attack the Donglin Party. For this reason, he and the party members Cai Yichen, the minister of the Criminal Department, and the Military Department were all involved. Xue Guoguan had attacked many Donglin Party members in the past few years. Dongchang
When Cao Huachun went to Gusu to rectify the Fushe, it was also because Wen Tiren presented a copy of the Fushe in front of the emperor, so the emperor decided to ask Cao Huachun to go to Jiangnan to investigate and rectify the Fushe, so as to avoid the Fushe again after Donglin.
Wen Tiren was afraid that Zhang Pu, who had retreated to his hometown of Taicang, would "control the government from a distance" like Donglin Li Sancai back then, so he sent his cronies to serve as local officials in Suzhou Prefecture to collect evidence nearby in order to overthrow Zhang Pu and restore the society. As a result, several people
During the year, there was an endless stream of memorials from Jiangnan to the capital attacking the restoration of society. Wen's close confidant Lu Wensheng had a quarrel with Zhang Cai, and after he became the prefect of Suzhou, he began to attack the restoration of society. He wrote memorials to impeach the restoration of society, and Wen Tiren used a red pen
He wrote a harshly worded edict: "Taicang resumes society, forms parties, and acts arbitrarily. What is the duty of the academic officials? The scholars are so arrogant!"
The imperial censor Zhou Zhikui impeached and restored the society, disrupted the water transportation regulations, formed cliques, and defied the imperial edict. Wen Tiren wrote murderously at the end of the memorial: Emperor Fu Wang immediately mobilized the imperial code, broke the party situation, arrested Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai,
Confront the minister face to face. If what the minister says is true, beg for Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai to be executed to thank the imperial court; at the same time, execute the minister to thank their cronies.
A man named Xu Huaidan wrote an article denouncing the restoration of society, accusing Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai of "disrupting public sentiment and shaking the country". He listed ten major crimes: imitating the king of heaven, falsely claiming to be the sage, inciting
Gathering friends, hindering the establishment of power, summoning bandits, corrupting morals, slandering, defiling moral character, stealing positions and losing integrity, calling bandits and causing disasters. This memorial, deliberately promoted by Wen Tiren, brought huge pressure to the restoration of society.
.
Fushe is actually a derivative of Donglin, and its roots are rooted in Donglin. Therefore, if there is difficulty in Fushe, it means Donglin is in trouble. Therefore, the officials of the Donglin Party in the court spared no effort to attack Wen Tiren, and they did not hesitate to attack Wen Tiren during the Five Years of Chongzhen Period.
There was a big commotion at the court meeting in 1999, and the young emperor was so angry that he forced Zhou Yanru, who was lurking in Beijing, to return to his hometown, completely ending the possibility of the Donglin Party members hoping to overthrow Wen Tiren and restore Zhou Yanru to the throne. But even so, Wen Tiren's days
Still not feeling better, there are too many officials in the Donglin Party. One Zhou Yanru is gone and there are still ten Zhou Yanru. As long as Donglin does not fall, his first assistant will not be the real first assistant.
Wen Tiren finally stepped down. On the surface, it was Wen Tiren who was behind Cao Huachun's investigation of Zhang Hanru's case. In fact, it was because of the problem of rogue bandits. In the fourth year of Wen Tiren's first assistant, although the eastern bandits were severely damaged by Shi Dayong and were temporarily unable to invade the south, the northwest rogue bandits were
A small spark turned into a fire. The burning of the Fengyang Imperial Tomb was the last straw that broke Wen Tiren's back. Chongzhen could no longer bear that his chief assistant was helpless against the bandits. Besides, Shi Dayong, who was able to fight against the Donglu, was the last straw.
Nian is also Wen Tiren's heartache. Speaking of which, he and Cao Huachun also wanted to win over Shi Dayong's Jinzhou Army. For this reason, he and Zhou Yanru secretly competed with each other. But who knew that Shi Dayong was really not a sensible person?
He has done so many daring things. In the past few years, Wen Tiren worked hard to suppress the imperial censors' impeachment of Shi Dayong, and tried not to mention Shi Dayong and his Liaodong Army in front of the emperor, and even the victory of Jinzhou.
Denglai's suppression of the rebellion, the Great Victory of Liaonan, and the Great Victory of Shenyang were not rewarded for a series of meritorious deeds performed by Shi Dayong, in order to downplay Shi Dayong's influence in the court and avoid embarrassment to the court and the emperor. But the more this happened,
The more incompetent he becomes, the dignified chief minister can't even deal with a single warrior who leads the army. Can the emperor be satisfied with him? If Wen Tiren can find a way to get Shi Dayong to come to Beijing obediently, he won't even resist the Donglin Party's 10,000 impeachments.
After all, Hou Xun of the Donglin Party took the initiative to intercede for Shi Dayong, and even persuaded the Liaodong Army to go to the Central Plains to suppress the bandits. This was originally a good thing, but when he thought about it, it was wrong. Since the Donglin Party
The Lin Party can persuade Shi Dayong to lead troops to suppress the bandits, so why should they use you as their chief assistant? By the time Wen Tiren wakes up, things cannot be stopped.
In fact, Wen Tiren was really unlucky. He was an extremely honest person. The only Yuan Shiheng house he bought was given by the emperor. Other than that, he had no other wealth. Compared to Zhou Yanru, who had accumulated astonishing wealth in four years as the chief minister.
In comparison, Wen, the chief minister, is really the most incorruptible prime minister since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Wen also wanted to do things, but his lack of party affiliation left him with only a few cronies to help him. Faced with Donglin's hindrance in the Manchu Dynasty, he
What kind of power can it bring? It's just that the increase in commercial taxes has been raised six times in four years, but none of them has passed the court. With this, what can he do? The Ming Dynasty was troubled by internal and external troubles, but his Wen Tiren was not troubled by internal and external troubles.
Woolen cloth.
...........
After Wen Tiren resigned as prime minister, Wu Changshi immediately wrote to Zhang Pu, urging him to encourage Zhou Yanru to come back. His letter came after Qian Qianyi, only two days apart. In the letter, he said that Qian Qianyi, a gentleman, was slandered and was
After being dismissed from office, Wen Zhen and Meng were ostracized within three months of entering the cabinet, which resulted in the continuous persecution of the gentlemen in the southeast. Zhou Yanru's comeback was not enough to eliminate the disaster. Wu Changshi's letter also revealed that he had made friends with Cao Huachun, the eunuch of Dongchang, and had an affair with Wang Dehua
The line was over, and they were sparing no effort to pave the way for Zhou Yanru's comeback. Hong Chengchou, the governor of the other five provinces, and Lu Xiangsheng, the prime minister of the five provinces, both expressed their support for Zhou Yanru's comeback. Hou Xun, who was in charge of the Liaodong Army, even offered money and people. As long as Zhou Yanru is willing, he can come back.
There are almost no obstacles.
On February 17, under the operation of Donglin Party officials, Chongzhen held a court meeting on the platform and ordered the court officials to recommend a new chief minister. As a result, under the leadership of the Donglin Party, although the ministers recommended by the court had both internal and external functions, they
None of them satisfied Chongzhen. When the emperor was not satisfied with the candidate, the Donglin party began to recommend the real candidate Zhou Yanru. Chongzhen did not agree on the spot, as long as the courtiers recommended two more candidates.
When Zhang Pu and Wuchang were engaged in various activities for Zhou Yanru, Feng Quan of Zhuozhou, Hou Xun who was still in the Liaodong Army in Henan, Ruan Dacheng of Tongcheng, etc. respectively contributed money to raise 60,000 taels of silver to open up the joints. In the inner court, Wang Dehua, the eunuch who held the seal, and Wang Chengen, who held the pen, respectively
They all expressed their support for Zhou Yanru. Cao Huachun, who was still waiting to see if Zhou Yanru would come back, finally opened his mouth to support Zhou Yanru under the pressure of two big men in the inner court.
Under the unanimous "call" of the inner court and the outer court, on the 20th, Chongzhen issued an edict to summon Zhou Yanru, Zhang Zhifa, and He Fengsheng, former great scholars, to the court. On the night when Zhou Yanru received the imperial edict at home, he suddenly dreamed of his wife Wu, who had been dead for ten years.
Wu Shi tried his best to dissuade him from going out again. He was doubtful. Wu Shi said, if you don't believe it, you can come with me to a place to have a look. Zhou Yanru went with him and saw an old monk with a rope tied around his head and neck, and he woke up with horror.
This dream made him believe that his future was ominous and he was afraid of taking up his post.
Zhou Yanru entered the capital in early March. His new official title was Young Master and Grand Master of the Crown Prince, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Grand Scholar of Zhongji Hall. When he made his first pilgrimage to the emperor, Zhou Yanru stated his policy agenda with confidence and lucidity. The top priorities were:
We will reduce or exempt the farmers' arrears of grain and white grain, reduce and exempt the taxes that the private sector has owed over the years, reduce or exempt this year's land taxes in places that have suffered from wars and famines, pardon prisoners convicted of exile or less, and recall officials who have been removed from office due to remonstrances, etc.
Chongzhen was very satisfied with what he heard, and immediately approved them one by one, and gave him a banquet to wash away his dust. After Zhou Yanru left, Chongzhen suddenly turned to Wang Chengen on the side and said, "He should do it!" The implication is that apart from Zhou Yanru, Chongzhen can no longer be found.
A more suitable candidate for the chief minister of the cabinet.
On the first day after Zhou Yanru resumed his duties as chief minister, the first memorial he received was that the governor of Henan was impeaching Shi Dayong, the commander-in-chief of Lushun, for letting the bandits go without suppressing them, instead of setting up troops to plunder, killing civilians indiscriminately, and taking credit for killing good people.