Chapter 63 Appreciate autumn chrysanthemums

In late September of the 15th year of Chongzhen, that is, more than two months after Huang Zongxi moved away, Fang Yizhi received more than a dozen pots of famous chrysanthemums from an official in Fengtai in the same year.When he was enjoying the game, he prepared a banquet on the spur of the moment, wrote a post, and invited two colleagues who were good friends on weekdays, Zhan Shifu, Yude, Wu Weiye and Bingke, to Gong Dingzi in Shizhong to drink and enjoy the flowers.Both Wu and Gong were members of the old Fushe, and Wu Weiye was also a proud student of Zhang Pu, the leader of the Fushe.The three of them had known each other since they were in Jiangnan.However, when Fang Yizhi went to Beijing later, he spent a longer time with Wu Weiye and had a closer relationship.As for Gong Dingzi, because he has been an official in Hubei, he was transferred to Beijing not long ago. Although Fang Yizhi had contact with him in the past, he didn't know each other very well.And for this Hefei talent, Fang Yizhi can't say that he likes him too much, he always feels that he is too slick and slick, and he is somewhat posturing.However, Fang Yizhi is not the kind of narrow-minded person. He sees that the other party often comes to the door, and he respects himself a lot. In addition, Wu Weiye has been saying good things about Gong Dingzi in person and behind his back, so he gradually treats this new friend. Warm up.

Today, Fang Yizhi is sitting in the open room of the study with two guests.The dozens of pots of famous chrysanthemums were divided into two rows and displayed under the steps.Among them, there are "Drunken Concubine Yang", "Silver Crane Ling", "Cockscomb Purple", "Liuxian Crepe", "Neon Clothes and Feather Clothes", etc., with different names and colors, and different postures. petal.Bursts of fragrance floated to the banquet with the refreshing autumn wind.The three friends have watched and admired it once, and even composed a few poems in rhyme. Now they are sitting and chatting, while continuing to drink and admire the flowers.Gong Dingzi is a talkative person, and he has a wide range of friends and well-informed information, so as usual, he and Fang Yizhi talked and talked most of the time.Wu Weiye listened quietly from the side, rarely interrupting, with a gentle smile on his delicate face all the time.

Now, they have changed several topics, because they were talking casually, so there is no order. For a while, they talked about the death of Concubine Zhongtian in July and her sister's replacement in the palace, and for a while they talked about the special boiled pig's head in Chaoshou Hutong Hua's family Meat, related to a bizarre case of lost treasure that happened in the Nanjing Imperial Palace not long ago, and then returned to Beijing, saying that someone recently saw Chen Yuanyuan at Tian Hongyu's mansion. Beautiful.Then, they compared Chen Yuanyuan with Dong Xiaowan.Gong Dingzi thinks that Dong Xiaowan is not as good as Chen Yuanyuan anyway, Mao Xiang is too conceited in his daily life, and this time he is dumb and eats coptis, so no one can blame him; The product is dignified, not as dusty as Chen Yuanyuan.In the end, as usual, it was Wu Weiye who came out to smooth things over, saying that both Chen and Dong had their own merits, just like the chrysanthemums in front of them - "Drunk Concubine Yang" and "Silver Crane Ling". The argument died down.After that, they turned the topic to the battle situation. Not long ago, the reinforcements sent by the imperial court suffered a disastrous defeat in Zhuxian Town. They talked about Kaifeng, Henan, which was in danger, and the incompetence of the Ministry of War.In the end, let's return to the big news that is currently causing a stir in the government and the public - the case of Chen Xinjia, Shangshu of the Ministry of War.

"It's ridiculous to say the least!" Fang Yizhi said, "Since the old man Chen went to prison in prison, begged for forgiveness, and was rejected by the emperor, now he keeps sending gifts and requests from inside and outside, but he actually delivered them to me yesterday." Here it comes!" "Then, brother Fang must have refused the door!" Gong Dingzi asked with a smile, a playful expression appeared on his fair face. Fang Yizhi shook his head: "My little brother will accept it as it is!" "Oh?" "Brother Gong, is it strange?" Fang Yizhi glanced at him and said solemnly, "From my point of view, old man Chen has set himself up for defeat this time, and even a god will come down to save him--it's just a pity that this One hundred taels of silver! Since he is constantly being delivered to your door, if my younger brother does not accept him, someone else will accept it. Instead of letting others bear it, how can I let my younger brother accept it? For example, today, my younger brother wants to invite two old men to come here for a drink. Flowers, this silver just happens to be used as wine capital. Compared with letting those vulgar things get it, using it to ask for land, lend money and accumulate grain, it is better than a lot! Besides, old man Chen is always very greedy, this silver is not upright. Cai, even if he gave us a little for free, he has nothing to complain about!"

Gong Dingzi blinked his eyes, as if he didn't understand at once, and then laughed. "Okay, okay! Mizhi, thanks to you being an official in the capital for several years, you haven't changed at all, and you are still the true qualities of a famous scholar in the south of the Yangtze River! I admire, admire!" As he said, he raised his glass, drank with Fang Yizhi, and then Turning around, intending to urge Wu Weiye, only to find that the great Wu poet frowned, with a look of unbearable expression on his face. "Hey, Mr. Jun, what's the matter, you?" Gong Dingzi asked strangely.

Wu Weiye sighed lightly: "Although Chen Da Sima was guilty, he didn't actually die, so why should you..." "Aha, this time, I'm afraid he is dead!" Gong Dingzi said with a smile. "If he is really doomed," Wu Weiye reprimanded gently, "you shouldn't be like this." Gong Dingzi was stunned for a moment, and then opened his eyes wide: "Hey, this time, it's his own fault, and we can't blame us!" "But……" "But what?" Gong Dingzi immediately asked back, he obviously felt Fang Yizhi's presence, and Wu Weiye's blame was aimed at the two of them, "But we shouldn't gloat, and add trouble to others, right? But, I'm afraid you pity him , but in the end he may not be grateful to Dade, but he will bite you back!" He said sharply.

"Actually, actually, he didn't offend us much." Wu Weiye argued with a blushing face. "Didn't offend us? Then, who is behind the 'Twenty-Four Qi' theory? Who is the main messenger? Huh, don't look at him pretending to be perfunctory with us, he is evil in his heart! I never believed him!" The theory of "Twenty-Four Qi" mentioned by Gong Dingzi refers to that not long ago, someone made up a "Twenty-Four Qi" because Zhou Yanru once again served as the chief assistant of the cabinet and appointed many Donglin people. Twenty-four officials, including Wu Weiye, were woven into the false case of "Qi" and accused of being private parties. They made a big show and spread it everywhere.As a result, the emperor also knew about it, and issued a decree, ordering all the officials to change it if there were any, and encourage them if there were none.It is still unclear who was responsible for this incident.However, Gong Dingzi himself is a speech officer, and his duty is to supervise the Ministry of War. In addition, the speech officers attacked the Ministry of War a while ago was particularly violent, so he suspected that Chen Xinjia was secretly retaliating, but there may not be any basis for it...

Wu Weiye stopped ringing.He is clearly not good at arguments and is afraid of arguments.Seeing the other party's menacing approach, he was discouraged. "Okay, let's not talk about this, let's not talk about it." He said aggrieved and helplessly, and lowered his head in frustration, "Actually, alas..." Gong Dingzi rolled his eyes and immediately agreed: "Yes, forget it, don't talk, don't talk!" He laughed loudly, "Drink, drink!" While they were arguing, Fang Yizhi never interrupted.Wu Weiye's accusation made him somewhat disappointed.Of course, Fang Yizhi didn't have the slightest liking for Chen Xinjia, but the endless party disputes in the court actually made him more and more tired.It is true that although Wei Zhongxian's eunuch, who was extremely vicious, was suppressed more than ten years ago, Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan, the former chief minister of the cabinet who were enemies of Donglin, also collapsed one after another due to crimes.After Zhou Yanru's comeback, many former officials of Donglin who were hit by exclusion were appointed.But at present above the imperial court, the struggle among the various factions on the top of the mountain is still extremely complicated and fierce.Take Chen Xinjia as an example. Although he doesn't belong to Wen Xue's party, he doesn't buy Donglin's account. Instead, relying on the emperor's favor, he has been pulling himself up and trying his best to expand his power.What's more, as Minister of the Ministry of War, he was incompetent in command, lost his troops and lost ground, and secretly asked the Qing army for peace behind his back.These all caused strong dissatisfaction from Dong Lin's side, and he wanted to kick him down a long time ago, but because the emperor blindly defended him, there was nothing he could do.Now that the opportunity finally came, of course he would not let it go.The reason why Xu Shiqi, the left servant of the Criminal Ministry, insisted on punishing Chen Xinjia is not unrelated to this.However, Fang Yizhi also understood that the fact that the current situation of the war has come to this point has been for a long time, and it is hard to return. It is definitely not something that Chen Xinjia can reverse.Old man Chen is certainly not a talent for bringing peace and stability to the country, but is there a way for someone else?Thinking about it this way, Fang Yizhi had to be skeptical about the significance of the current party struggle.Just now, he was a bit cynical, but his heart was actually depressed.Because of this, he can fully understand Wu Weiye's mood now.Not only did he not intend to go along with Gong Dingzi and ridicule the kindness and weakness of this good man, but he wanted to smooth things over for him and say a few words of consolation.

However, he didn't have time to do so.Because Sun Fu, the leader of the class, came in in a hurry, handed in a greeting card, and said: "Master Feng's sedan chair in the left hall of the Ministry of War is almost outside the door!" When the three friends heard this, they couldn't help looking at each other , are quite surprised. "Could it be for Chen Xinjia?" Gong Dingzi asked. Fang Yizhi pondered for a while, and ordered: "Tea in the outer hall!" Then he put down his cup, stood up, and went into the inner room to change his official uniform.He made a "wait a moment" gesture to Wu and Gong, and hurriedly greeted them.

This visiting "Feng Ye of the Ministry of War" is Feng Yuanbiao, the left servant of the Ministry of War.He was a Jinshi in the second year of Apocalypse, served as a Beijing official, and was released many times. Only three months ago, he was still serving as the General Political Envoy in Nanjing.He likes to be wise and resourceful. In his early years, he went to the court to impeach Zhou Yanru and spared no effort in attacking him. After entering Beijing this time, he saw that Zhou Yanru wanted to change his course, so he went against the old attitude and had close contacts with Zhou Yanru. well done.Feng Yuanbiao is currently one of the backbones of the Donglin faction, and has always acted as the backer of Fushe.So his sudden visit did not make Fang Yizhi feel suspicious or uneasy.On the contrary, when the old man's short and fat body and that lively, cheerful round face came into view, Fang Yizhi felt happy and close in his heart.

"Haha, the students are still worried about being shut down! In such an autumn, my brother doesn't go climbing, admiring chrysanthemums, drinking, so he still has the patience to stay at home!" Feng Yuanbiao excitedly clasped his hands and said when he saw Fang Yizhi. "Old Tao just happened to come here!" Fang Yizhi returned the salute and said with a smile, "You don't have to look far for drinking and admiring chrysanthemums. Right now, there is one in the dormitory, so why don't you come in and have three cups together?" "Oh?" "Because a young friend sent over a dozen pots of chrysanthemums a few days ago, it's not uncommon to see them in later life, so I prepared a few glasses of beer wine today and invited Jungong and Xiaosheng to come over and enjoy them. Now they are in the study .” "So that's how it is! With such an elegant matter, why did my brother forget about the students? He should be punished, he should be punished!" Feng Yuanbiao shook his head, and laughed again, his resonant voice resounded throughout the courtyard. voice. "The late students are willing to be punished with three cups!" Fang Yizhi said briskly, and then stopped in front of the side door leading to the study, "Then, Mr. Tao, please come over here?" Feng Yuanbiao rolled his eyes: "Well, you said Xiaosheng is also in there?" "yes." "Oh, that's all, that's all!" Feng Yuanbiao said hastily, pulling Fang Yizhi forward, then turning his head, blinking slyly, "The student is now in charge of the Ministry of War, he is an undergraduate student. Officer, at this moment, it's better to tear it apart!" Fang Yizhi let out an "oh".Of course he understood that Gong Dingzi's duty as a military department was to inspect the military office, and report to the emperor at any time the situation of his work, the pros and cons of his affairs.The relationship between the two parties has always been both sharply opposed and sometimes colluded, which is quite delicate.Now that Chen Xinjia's case has not been settled, Feng Yuanbiao, as his deputy, is temporarily in charge of the military department, so it is naturally inconvenient to be too close to Gong Dingzi, so as not to attract gossip.However, since they are in their own home at the moment, and they are already in the same circle, Fang Yizhi feels that Feng Yuanbiao seems to be overly cautious. Feng Yuanbiao probably saw his thoughts in his eyes, and laughed again: "Brother, student, I'm joking with you, but in fact, I don't have time to drink and enjoy chrysanthemums! I'm going to Mr. Zhou Ge's place, passing by Here, come in and have a look at you, you will be leaving soon!" At this time, they had already come to the hall, so they saluted and met again, and the host and guest sat down. "Brother, have you seen Taichong these days?" Feng Yuanbiao asked while receiving a cup of tea from the servant. "Oh, the day before yesterday he visited Shexia with two brothers Kaizhang and Daoji, and asked Wansheng to visit Tang Ruowang in the Catholic Church tomorrow, and said that he would go back to the south of the Yangtze River in a few days." Fang Yizhi replied, remembering that the other party was from Cixi in eastern Zhejiang, Huang Zongxi can also be regarded as a fellow villager. "Well, I heard that he failed the exam again?" "yes." "This year is Zhu Ruijin's main exam. I heard that there are many people who take his joints in private. Why doesn't Taichong ask someone to talk about it?" Feng Yuanbiao's expression was very serious.He put away his smile. Fang Yizhi smiled wryly: "Tai Chong has a very stubborn temper, how could he be willing to do such a thing." Feng Yuanbiao shook his head: "He suffers because he is too serious about everything! In fact, stereotypes are up to today, how can you get any real talents and learning? It's just a fictional story! He is so serious, and he doesn't count. It’s also missing a usable talent. It’s not worth it to let those shameless people who are competing now take advantage of it!” "Old Tao sees it very well. Even Wan Sheng once persuaded him to come here, but Tai Chong refused to listen, and there was nothing he could do." After Fang Yizhi said this, for a long time, neither the host nor the guest spoke again.Feng Yuanbiao stroked his sparse yellow beard slowly, raised his chin, as if thinking about something. "I heard that Taichong intends to submit a letter to the court, is there such a thing?" Finally, he asked again. "Oh, Elder Tao also knows?" "My brother heard the chatter and talk of the younger generation, but I didn't get the details." "This, Wansheng has seen it before. Mostly what Taichong means is that the country's affairs are at this point, and it is not enough to survive without urgent reform. The urgent task of reform is to suppress the merger of powerful and powerful, and restore the system of well fields, that is, to equalize the land of the whole country. , granted on a household basis, with 50 acres per household. The rest will be occupied by rich people. In addition, heavy taxes and duties must be exempted. In ancient times, the land was not allowed to be bought and sold, and the country paid taxes on the 11th; It can be even more relaxed, such as thirty and one tax. If it is said that the current war disaster is not over, it is difficult to reduce the tax suddenly in order to help the salary, and it must be strictly limited to the fifteenth tax. In this way, the rich will not be poor, but the poor Even those who live in peace can live in peace for a while. Once the source of chaos is gone, the bandits will be easy to pacify themselves, and the country will be settled by the bandits, and there will be nothing they can do to build captives!" When Fang Yizhi said this, he took a peek at the guests and found that Feng Yuanbiao was frowning and pursing his lips, as if he was about to laugh or cry, so he hurriedly said: "Taichong also knows that the current North-South juncture Frying, the world is corrupt, and this proposal cannot be carried out quickly. Therefore, it is proposed to try it out in several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. Although the situation is also getting worse, it is fortunate that it has not yet been attacked by soldiers, or it may be easier to achieve results..." He wanted to continue, but when he saw Feng Yuanbiao made a stop gesture, he stopped. Feng Yuanbiao shook his head: "It's purely empty theory! Don't say that the imperial court will not accept it. Even if it is adopted, if it is done according to his method, I am afraid that Jiangnan will be arrogant and chaotic-but, there is such a thing, it is better than No strong. Tomorrow, my brother will let Taichong bring it and tell him not to leave in a hurry, and the student will transfer it to Mr. Zhou Ge for him. The old man may not have time to look at it. It is just an excuse. Suggesting from the side, let him leave Taichong behind and assign him an errand to do it, it's always okay!" Saying that, he stood up. "Oh, Mr. Tao, what happened to Chen Xinjia?" Fang Yizhi asked while seeing off the guests. "I heard that the emperor is still a little hesitant. After all, he personally promoted the person! Old Chen seems to have heard some rumors in prison, and he is giving gifts everywhere and asking people to intercede. His henchmen are also moving around. Students I have already told Mr. Xu that if this person is not removed, not only will the country have no peace, but it will eventually be a trouble to our Eastern Forest! —— Well, at this juncture, the court's public opinion is still very important. Brother Weng also needs to move around in the inner court. Be vigilant, what needs to be said must be said!" Fang Yizhi nodded, walked a few steps, and suddenly said with a smile: "Once Lao Chen is gone, the position of Chief Sima, I'm afraid it must be the old man!" Feng Yuanbiao stopped for a while, turned his head, and blinked his eyes: "Oh, brother, do you think so? Is this what someone else said, or does brother think so?" He then continued to walk forward, shaking his white With a furious head, he sighed and said, "If that's the case, that's exactly what I don't want the most! Just ask, whoever has been in this position for more than ten years will have a good end!"