Chapter four hundred and eighteenth overturning the clouds and covering the rain
Xu Guangqi and Zhang Yuan went to Taipusi Street to visit Wu Daonan. After listening to their submissions, Wu Daonan asked: "If you start a debate, can you win? If you win, what do you want to achieve?"
Xu Guangqi said to Zhang Yuan: "Jiezi, please tell Mr. Wu Ge."
Zhang Yuandao: "It's not that the students are arrogant, like Shi Lang of Nanjing. There is no reason for students to lose in a debate with him. This debate is not a debate between Buddhism and Catholicism, but an academic debate. Shi Lang Shen's theory is biased, but the student's theory is complete. Shen Shilang has a narrow vision, while students have a broad vision. In the face of natural disasters and the country is in danger, will he just talk about Buddhism or benevolence, or will he have practical strategies to save the country? As Shilang Shen said, expelling the Thai and Western priests will be enough. Eternal peace, this is really not worth refuting. The students and Xu Zanshan want to use this debate to let the gentry and the people know more about Western culture. They must be tolerant and know how to learn from each other's strengths to offset their weaknesses. Stones from other mountains can attack jade, not to mention There are indeed areas in Western learning that Confucianism of the Ming Dynasty cannot match, such as famous studies, calendars, water conservancy, and ordnance. They are all worth learning. How can we abandon them just because they are Western knowledge?"
Wu Daonan read Zhang Yuan's 6,000-word memorial again, nodded and said: "This memorial is very good and insightful. Just keep it with me. I will bring it to the cabinet tomorrow and submit it to the cabinet after the vote is drawn up. Can the debate be held? It depends on the emperor’s will.”
Xu Guangqi and Zhang Yuan came out of Wu Daonan's residence and went to the Qintian Prison to pay a visit to Zhou Ziyu, the deputy supervisor. Zhou Ziyu admired Matteo Ricci very much because of the solar eclipse in the capital in November of the 38th year of Wanli. At that time, the Qintian Prison The prediction was wrong. However, Matteo Ricci, who died in May of the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, mentioned this solar eclipse in his posthumous works, and the predicted time was almost accurate. The Ministry of Rites also asked people who knew the calendar about this matter, and talked with the supervisor day and night. The derivation was carried out by Zhou Ziyu, who was in charge of the Qintian Prison at that time. He also participated in the derivation and prediction, and finally found that the error in the solar eclipse prediction was not the fault of the supervisor's calculation, but the fault of the calendar itself. If according to Matteo Ricci, Xiong Sanba, etc. The method of calculating solar eclipses provided by others will not have such errors. When Matteo Ricci first came to Beijing to meet Emperor Wanli, he proposed to Shu that he was willing to participate in revising the Ming calendar.
Zhou Ziyu was a little surprised when he saw Xu Guangqi and Zhang Yuan visiting. After hearing what they said, Zhou Ziyu said: "I have long had the idea of inviting gentlemen from the Atlantic to participate in revising the Ming calendar, but this matter must be issued by the emperor. Since Xu Zanshan and Zhang Xiuzhan want to start this debate, so I will lend a hand." They immediately wrote a draft and asked the emperor to revise the calendar. They said, "Pang Di'e, Xiong Sanba, etc., who are naturalized distant ministers in the Atlantic Ocean, brought the calendar of that country. Many Chinese classics were not prepared, so they relied on Hongwu's precedent for translating Western calendars, and learned from Confucian officials and supervisors to translate calendars from other countries to make up for the gaps in the Ming calendar."
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On August 19, Wu Daonan brought Zhang Yuan's memorial to the cabinet to discuss the vote with Fang Congzhe. Fang Congzhe read Zhang Yuan's memorial and thought: "Zhang Yuan is really keen. From Shen Que's memorial, we can see that it is not good for him. There are signs." He said: "Brother Huifu, a few Jesuit missionaries are having a big debate in the court. Isn't it a bit of a fuss?"
Wu Daonan said: "There's no harm in debating. It's better than party disputes and impeaching each other. It's better to treat those distant ministers who are naturalized with tolerance."
Fang Congzhe insisted on not holding a debate, and Wu Daonan refused to submit to the authority of the chief minister. The two ministers disagreed, and Zhang Yuan's memorial was left in the cabinet and could not be submitted.
On August 20, four more memorials by Hanlin editors Wen Zhenmeng, Qian Shisheng, Jishi Ni Yuanlu, and Zhang Dai were sent to the cabinet, all of which were to boost Zhang Yuan's momentum.
There are also memorials to defend the missionaries, and Zhou Ziyu, the deputy governor of the Qin Dynasty, asking Pang Di'e and Xiong Sanba to participate in revising the Ming calendar. Zhou Ziyu's request to revise the calendar at this time was clearly instigated by Xu Guangqi and Zhang Yuan, and Fang Congzhe was very angry.
, said to Wu Daonan: "Zhang Yuan, a weak young man, is very ambitious. In order to achieve the purpose of debate, he actually encouraged so many officials to support him. Brother Ruofu said yesterday that academic debate is better than party impeachment. I think Zhang Yuan wants to
By using this debate to stir up party strife, Zhang Yuan's Han Society is clearly a party."
Wu Daonan said sternly: "Brother Zhonghan, don't easily think that others are forming cliques. The Han Society was originally a literary society that exchanged ideas on literature and art. There are many talents in the society. This time, there are more people who have been admitted to the Jinshi. The rules of the Han Society are
I also understand that one of them is that members cannot be gathered in the name of the Han Society to blackmail the government for personal gain. This alone is better than many other literary societies. If the Ming Dynasty's students, judges and even officials can do this
A little bit, that is the blessing of the country."
Fang Congzhe said calmly: "There are many people who are duplicitous in this world. Listen to their words, but also watch their actions. Zhang Yuan is so big in asking for debate. Doesn't he have the intention of forcing the cabinet and the court?"
Wu Daonan said: "Fang Ge's words are serious. I don't feel that Zhang Yuan has any intention of forcing him. Zhang Yuan just wants to ask the Ministry of Rites to agree to debate with Nanjing Minister Shen and others."
The two assistant ministers did not agree with each other and were in a stalemate for a while. However, it was obviously inappropriate to keep so many memorials in the direct room of the cabinet. The cabinet did not have the emperor's right to leave things unpublished. Fang Congzhe said: "Then these memorials will be left to Huifu."
Brother, let’s draw up the vote. I won’t co-sign, everything will be decided by the Holy One.”
If the chief minister does not sign, it means that the chief minister does not agree with the draft of the other ministers. It is okay if the other ministers forcefully submit it, but the emperor will often save the face of the chief minister and reject the memorial and re-vote the draft. In this way, the first minister will vote again.
The assistant minister has the face to show his authority, but the assistant minister who forces the vote to be submitted loses face, so generally speaking, the second assistant and below will respect the opinions of the first assistant and will not easily go against the first assistant——
Although Wu Daonan was angry, he did not dare to submit the vote rashly. Those memorials were once again suppressed by the cabinet. In the evening of that day, Wu Daonan asked Zhang Yuan to meet him at Taipusi Street. He said that Fang Congzhe did not agree to hold a debate and asked Zhang Yuan what countermeasures he had.
Zhang Yuandao: "Teacher, even if the vote is drafted and submitted, the memorial can still be approved by the emperor without the signature of the chief minister. At that time, Lu Guangzu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was fighting for power with the cabinet minister, bypassing the cabinet and directly submitting the memorial to the emperor. That was not the case.
Have you not been reprimanded by the emperor? You have also won the power for the Ministry of Personnel to recommend cabinet ministers. The teacher is the second assistant in the cabinet, so of course he has the right to insist on his own opinion."
Zhang Yuan has been familiar with the Di newspapers for thirty years and knows all the stories of the Wanli Dynasty. There is another thing he did not tell Wu Daonan. When he entered the palace yesterday to speak to the emperor Sun Jin, he asked Zhong Benhua to take Wang An aside.
He told Wang An about the debate, and Wang An agreed to help him facilitate it. Wang An had a good relationship with Li En, the chief minister of ceremonies, and holding the debate was not personal gain. Wang An was willing to help Zhang Yuan, an upstart in the Imperial Academy, and Zhang Yuan had a good relationship with him.
But I couldn't mention it to Wu Daonan. Ever since Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao teamed up to oust the young Wanli Emperor, it has become a taboo for foreign ministers to associate with internal officials, especially powerful internal officials, which can easily lead to criticism and impeachment. But the current situation is
There is no room for anything to be done by the rules. If you should go through the back door, you have to go through the back door. There is no way. Judging from Fang Congzhe's attitude, he has a deep prejudice against Zhang Yuan. With Fang Congzhe in the cabinet, any of Zhang Yuan's national salvation strategies will be difficult to implement. Therefore,
If we can use this debate to refute Fang Congzhe's reputation and enhance Wu Daonan's status in the cabinet, it will certainly be a good thing to kill two birds with one stone——
Wu Daonan said: "Last time, I was impeached by Li Song, Zhou Shidan, Yao Zongwen and Liu Wenbing. I was already at home. It was only after the assassination case that I had to enter the cabinet to take charge of matters. The issue of whether to stay or leave is not embarrassing to this day. , if the emperor rejects the memorial and redrafts it, then I will not be able to stay in the cabinet anymore."
Zhang Yuandao: "How could a student fall into such a situation as a teacher? The emperor will definitely respect the teacher's proposal. The aftermath of the attack is still lingering. Concubine Zheng and Uncle Zheng are still panicking. This big debate is just a good way to divert the attention of the government and the opposition. Moreover, the knowledge of managing the world and applying it mentioned by the student in the memorial is what the country urgently needs at present. Since the emperor approves the student’s strategy for imperial examinations, he should also agree with the student’s debate with Shen Shilang and others.”
Wu Daonan nodded and said: "What you said makes sense, then I will submit the draft memorial tomorrow. If the emperor rejects it, I will resign and return home, lest those officials will ridicule me for not leaving."
Zhang Yuan said sincerely: "Teacher, the national security is a big matter, personal honor and disgrace is a small matter. If the teacher stays in the court, he can do beneficial things for the people of the country. Even if he tolerates a little idleness, it is the teacher's humility. The world may not be able to see clearly. Qing history has its own fair judgment."
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On August 21, Wu Daonan showed Fang Congzhe the draft memorials of Xu Guangqi, Zhang Yuan, Wen Zhenmeng, Qian Shisheng, Ni Yuanlu, Zhang Dai and Zhou Ziyu, and asked for Fang Congzhe's opinion. Fang Congzhe looked expressionless. Without saying a word, Wu Daonan sealed the memorial and ordered Xiao Nei, who was on duty, to send it to the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
When Fang Congzhe saw that Wu Daonan insisted on going his own way and submitted the memorial draft regardless of his objections, he was surprised, angry, and a little uneasy at the same time. If the emperor dismissed the memorial, Wu Daonan would naturally lose face and would not dare to draft the memorial without permission in the future. However, If the emperor plans to approve the emperor based on Wu Daonan's vote, then Fang Congzhe will be greatly disgraced, the authority of the chief minister will be gone, the will of the emperor will be unpredictable, and the fate of the ministers will be in the hands of the emperor alone.
The memorials of the seven Xu Guangqi men were sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies. After reading them, the eunuch Li En came to Qixiang Palace to see Emperor Wanli in the morning of the next day. Emperor Wanli was dim-sighted, so the memorials to the Supervisor of Ceremonies were read aloud to him. After hearing this, Li En took out Zhang Yuan's memorial and said with a smile: "Long live my lord, this is the memorial of Zhang Zhuangyuan who wrote ten thousand words of court policy last time. Zhang Zhuangyuan is really a strong pen, and it has more than six thousand words."
Emperor Wanli, who was getting older by the day, said "Oh". He was still deeply impressed by Zhang Yuan and asked: "What did Zhang Yuan write again?"
Li Endao: "Zhang Xiuzuan criticized the last move by Shen Que of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing and others to expel Western missionaries. He believed that those Western missionaries were distant ministers who had become naturalized in our Ming Dynasty and should not be expelled all together. Zhang Xiuzuan proposed in Shen Que and others debated, and Shen Que also had objections to the glacial theory proposed in Zhang Xiu's imperial policy, believing that as long as benevolence and righteousness are implemented, the country will naturally be at peace."
With Li En's last words, Zhang Yuan's goal was achieved, which shows that the emperor's ministers can turn the tide.
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