Chapter 23 3. Hong Chengchou catches the knife on behalf of Wu Sangui

Wu Yingxiong naturally understood Hong Chengchou's theory that when the monarch is weak, the monarch only fears the strength of officials, not the corruption of officials.Thinking about it, it is true. In all dynasties, when the monarch is strong, the officials must be weak, and there will be fewer corrupt officials at this time; and when the monarch is weak, the officials will be prosperous, and there will be more corrupt officials.Therefore, in any period of prosperity in history, the monarch must be strong and the officials weak, and in any period of decline, the monarch must be weak and the officials strong.

From this point of view, only a cowardly king is afraid of strong officials and not corrupt officials! Wu Yingxiong thought about it for a while, then came up with an idea, and asked sincerely: "According to the scholar's intention, my father doesn't have to be afraid of Yang Yushi accusing him of extorting money from the people?" Hong Chengchou said, "That's exactly what I mean." Wu Sanxiong said: "So, my father can ignore it?" Hong Chengchou said: "It's not only possible to ignore it?" Wu Yingxiong was taken aback, and asked, "Could it be possible to fight back?"

Hong Chengchou said: "It is true. As long as the son-in-law has some intentions." Wu Yingxiong thought about it in his heart.Yang Suyun is an old man, and my Wu family did not offend him. He impeached my father several times. Although he is not to be feared, he is indeed annoying.That being the case, why not take the opportunity to teach him a lesson, lest he always cause trouble for my Wu family. Wu Yingxiong asked: "How to fight back?" Hong Chengchou asked: "Is there any loophole in this memorial, my son-in-law?" Wu Yingxiong said: "I don't see any loopholes. On the contrary, I think Yang Yushi's remarks can hurt my father."

Hong Chengchou asked, "Which word?" Wu Yingxiong said: "Yang Yushi reminds the emperor to guard against erroneous things!" Hong Chengchou said: "Why is the son-in-law so worried?" Wu Yingxiong said: "Yang Yushi's words are clearly telling the emperor that my father and son in the Wu family have the intention of instigating rebellion, and I want the emperor to take strict precautions, so as to prevent the lapse of time." Hong Chengchou smiled and said, "My son-in-law's analysis is reasonable. But Hong thinks this is exactly what we can use to fight back."

Wu Yingxiong was shocked and said: "The words of the scholar are absurd!" Hong Chengchou asked, "What's so wrong?" Wu Yingxiong said: "This remark touches my father very deeply, and it's too late for us to avoid it. How can we bring it up ourselves and let others attack us as a target?" Hong Chengchou said: "My son-in-law only knows one thing but not the other." Wu Yingxiong asked: "What is the first? What is the second?" Hong Chengchou said: "This remark will hurt King Pingxi first, and this remark will hurt Yang Yushi second."

Wu Yingxiong couldn't believe it and asked: "How could this sentence hurt Yang Yushi? He wrote it himself!" Hong Chengchou smiled and said, "That's exactly the reason!" Wu Yingxiong said, "Could the Grand Scholar speak more clearly?" Hong Chengchou said: "It's like a person holding a murder weapon to hurt others, but he didn't expect that others had a strong shield to block him. He couldn't hurt others, but was hurt by others." Wu Yingxiong asked, "What can we do to stop us?" Hong Chengchou said with a smile: "The spear lies in the hands of Yang Yuli, and the shield also lies in the hands of Yang Yushi!"

Wu Yingxiong said: "The shield is in the hands of Yang Yushi, how can it be used by me?" Hong Chengchou said: "We have to use our own contradictions!" Wu Yingxiong asked with a smile: "Where is the contradiction in itself?" Hong Chengchou said: "Yang Yuli hinted that the emperor should guard against the gradual progress, and his intention was to tell the emperor that King Pingxi had the intention of instigating rebellion. This is the spear in Yang Yushi's hand. This is the real weapon that can hurt Pingxi King! And Yang Yushi listed King Pingxi's violent expropriation, deception of the people, and plundering, etc., are exactly the shield in the hands of Yang Yushi."

Wu Yingxiong hurriedly cut off Hong Chengchou's words and asked, "This would have hurt my father too. It should also be the spear in Yang Yushi's hands. Why did it suddenly become a shield?" Hong Chengchou said with a smile: "Did the son-in-law forget the words that when the king is strong, he must not fear the power of officials but only the corruption of officials, and if the king is weak, he must not fear the corruption of officials but only the power of officials?" When officials are strong, the imperial court is not afraid of official corruption but only of strong officials! The more corrupt the official, the better! The more corrupt the official, the more it shows that he has no ambition and has no intention of competing with himself for the world, so why worry about it?"

Hong Chengchou took a breath and continued: "Yang Yushi sued King Pingxi for extortion and expropriation, and the words of extortion just show that King Pingxi is a corrupt official rather than a strong official, or that even a strong official has turned his interest to property. This is exactly what the imperial court wanted, so why would they object? Besides, Yang Yushi's words have already shown that King Pingxi is interested in money and not in monarchy, which is exactly the same as the information revealed by his so-called anti-microbial words. Contradictions. Isn't this just using the spear of the son to attack the shield of the son? We are using this contradiction to fight back against Yang Yushi."

When Wu Yingxiong heard this, why was there any doubt in his heart?Immediately knelt down in front of Hong Chengchou and said: "The words of the great scholar are like the sound of heaven! I thank the great scholar on behalf of my father." Hong Chengchou immediately helped Wu Yingxiong up and said, "How could this be the case with the son-in-law? Aren't you killing the old man? The old man wants to live a few more years!" After speaking, he burst out laughing. Wu Yingxiong could only smile apologetically.However, with a smile, Wu Yingxiong's heart became serious.For some reason, Wu Yingxiong felt a little terrified when he saw Hong Chengchou's scheming and treacherous face.From the criss-crossing wrinkles on Hong Chengchou's face, he seemed to see the piercing sharp eyes, the invisible and sinister scheme to hurt people, and the no antidote to kill people.This is a skill that can only be cultivated after years of playing in the officialdom.If a person has practiced to this level, in his opinion, anyone's tricks are just child's play!I don't know if this is Hong Chengchou's luck, or Hong Chengchou's sorrow?

Wu Yingxiong secretly rejoiced that the Wu family didn't have any enmity with him, if there was any enmity, he wondered if our Wu family father and son were his opponents?I think it is better not to try this matter, otherwise, both sides will suffer.Thinking of this, Wu Yingxiong secretly admired his father in his heart.If it weren't for his father's friendship with Hong Chengchou, today's situation may not be good! Seeing that Wu Yingxiong hadn't spoken for such a long time, Hong Chengchou asked, "What is the son-in-law thinking?" Wu Yingxiong was startled, and secretly blamed himself: How could he lose his composure in front of him?He said in a hurry: "I am thinking about how to fight back against Yang Suyun!" Hong Chengchou said: "Just ask Yang Suyun in Shangshu!" Wu Yingxiong said: "I have already understood the meaning of the Great Scholars. It's just that my father is still in Yunnan and knows little about the affairs in Beijing and China. I'm afraid I won't be able to comprehend the subtleties of the Grand Scholars' schemes and may miss the big deal." Hong Chengchou pondered: Wu Yingxiong's statement that his father knew little about the affairs of Beijing must be a lie. With him as his eyes and ears, how could Wu Sangui not know about the movement in the court?But he said that his father couldn't understand the subtlety of my strategy, and he was afraid that he would miss a big deal, but he was telling the truth, how can ordinary people understand what I, Hong Chengchou, mean? As a result, Hong Chengchou felt proud.Hong Chengchou glanced at Wu Yingxiong, who was begging sincerely, and said: "If the son-in-law does not dislike the old man's dim eyesight, the old man can catch the sword on behalf of King Pingxi." Wu Yingxiong was overjoyed when he heard it!Kneeling down in front of Hong Chengchou again, he said: "If you get the calligraphy of the great scholar, why worry about this failure? I thank the great scholar on behalf of my father." After Hong Chengchou helped Wu Yingxiong up, he smiled slightly, and said, "My son-in-law will wait here for a while, the old man will come back immediately." Wu Yingxiong nodded and waited patiently. Sure enough, after a while, Hong Chengchou came back with a memorial in his hand. Wu Yingxiong took it, seeing that the handwriting on the paper was still wet, and the ink was fragrant, he sincerely praised: "The sword of a university scholar is not old!" Hong Chengchou said with a smile: "My son-in-law, congratulations!" Wu Yingxiong looked seriously.The general idea of ​​the memorial written by Hong Chengchou is as follows: "I heard that Master Yang, the censor, impeached Wu for excessive extortion, extortion, oppression of the people, etc. Although there are mistakes in this statement, I would like to take the blame and blame myself. However, in the memorial of Master Yang, the imperial censor, there is a saying of "preventing the gradual progress", I don't know what Master Yang means?Please be enlightened!If you don't get what you want, the minister will be in trouble! " After Wu Yingxiong finished watching, he repeatedly praised: "The Grand Scholar is indeed a great writer, and he hits the nail on the head." Hong Chengchou stroked his beard and said, "My concubine congratulates me."