Chapter 84 Zuo Zhen Xing Bing

The memorials defended by Zuo Liangyu and others in defense of the prince undoubtedly made Ma Shiying and his followers feel panic and annoyed.However, for the Fushe members who stayed behind in Nanjing, it was like hearing the thunder that heralded the coming of the storm when they were suffering from drought and thirst, and felt unprecedented excitement and relief.Although due to the long distance, they have not yet received letters from Shen Shizhu, Zuo Guofeng, Yu Huai, Mei Langzhong and others who went to Wuchang and Xiamen, but after discussion, Wu Yingji, Huang Zongxi and Gu Gao still decided to go to Nanjing immediately. to respond.Therefore, these days, on the one hand, they have been lobbying around, citing all kinds of doubts to refute Ma, Ruan and others' claim that the prince is a fake; Poetry and essays were copied into headless posters, and people were sent to post them all over the city.In fact, ever since Wu Yingji invited friends from the Jianghu with unique skills to help, and openly pasted the condemned couplet on the gates of Ruan Dacheng and Ma Shiying, it has aroused great repercussions in Nanjing.Many people clapped their hands and applauded, and they took the initiative to follow suit.So from March 20th to the end of the month, in less than ten days, poems, couplets and folk songs were circulating in the city.There is a ballad that says:

This is to ridicule Liu Kongzhao, Bo Chengyi, Zhang Zhizhong, Tian Cheng, and Ma Shiying, the favored eunuchs. The poems defending the "fake prince" were also openly posted on the walls of the imperial city—— As for the attacks on Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng, they became more open and fierce. In addition to continuing to compare Ma Shiying to Li Zicheng’s prime minister Niu Jinxing, he also compared Ruan Dacheng to Feng Quan, a remnant of the eunuch who had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty—— This wave of criticism echoed internally and externally, it seems that it is really quite effective.In the imperial court, the trial of the crown prince's case has actually come to a halt; the threat to pursue the chief envoy, which was once aggressive, also died down.Not only that, even Zhou Biao and Lei Zuo, although they are still locked up, have been ignored for a long time, and there are even rumors that they may be released.It was this turning point in the political situation that made Huang Zongxi, overjoyed, finally change his original intention, and decided to spare time to take care of his younger brother's application for the candidate.

Speaking of Huang Zonghui's coming to Nanjing, it has been more than three months. At the beginning, because he refused to listen to dissuasion, he insisted on coming to apply for an official, which made Huang Zongxi, who was already in an extremely bad mood, very annoyed.Due to his mother's order, Huang Zongxi couldn't send his younger brother back immediately, but in fact he was very unhappy.In the past three months, he only took the opportunity of New Year's greetings during New Year's Day to lead Huang Zonghui to the homes of several fathers and elders.Naturally, there are many enthusiastic people who promise to help.However, several months have passed, and things have never been resolved.During this time, Huang Zonghui kept muttering and grunting, but Huang Zongxi refused to bring him to the door to ask questions.Sometimes Huang Zong would mutter too much, and Huang Zongxi would lose his temper and scold his younger brother.

This time Huang Zongxi admitted the truth.Because it made him feel better.Secondly, the two brothers live together in the city of Nanjing, where Mizhu pays a lot of money. The expenses are too high, and after a long time, they will be a little bit overwhelmed; willing to go.However, when the two brothers went door to door to the people who promised to help, they were quite disappointed.Except for one or two of them who couldn't see it because the master was out, the rest either lamented the corruption of the world and the difficulty of doing things, or they said that they had asked someone to clear it up, but there was no reply yet.They even said that they hadn't seen their brothers for a long time, thinking that Huang Zonghui had already got an official and left, so he didn't make any further arrangements.Waiting and so on made the Huang brothers look at each other dumbfounded.In this way, Huang Zongxi's stubborn temper was aroused instead. "Hmph, so they're all unreliable gossips! Since that's the case, I'm going to figure it out and show you!" He thought angrily.Therefore, when the two brothers sat for a long time in the house of a household manager and came out disappointed, Huang Zongxi resolutely turned around and said to his brother:

"Come on, let's go to the yamen of the Ministry of Rites and visit Qian Muzhai!" "Ah, brother, you mean to visit Qian and Qian Muzhai?" Huang Zonghui, who was already downcast, suddenly opened his eyes wide. Huang Zongxi nodded affirmatively: "That's right, just visit him!" Huang Zonghui blinked, obviously a little confused: in the past, he repeatedly asked to see the Minister of Rites who was the most capable of helping him and had a deep friendship with his late father, but his elder brother always firmly opposed it, and even reprimanded him harshly, why? Now he suddenly changed his mind?However, this was something that could not be asked for, so Huang Zonghui didn't ask any more questions. The two brothers followed each other and hurried to the departmental office located inside Hongwumen.

When they came to the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, they found that Qian Qianyi was not there, saying that he was summoned by the emperor to discuss matters in the palace.Fortunately, his two students - Gu Ling and Sun Yongzuo were there.They were overjoyed to welcome them out, and took the guests into the flower hall for tea; they also told the Huang brothers that Qian Qianyi had been in the palace for a long time to discuss matters, and he would be back soon, so the guests must stay and wait.Huang Zongxi, Gu and Sun were old acquaintances at first, but after the turmoil at the Huqiu Conference three years ago, there were fewer opportunities to see each other.However, once they sat down face to face, the old friendship quickly allowed them to talk freely.

"Hey, Brother Taichong," Gu Ling asked excitedly, "A few days ago, someone posted a pair of couplets on the gates of Ruan Huzi and Ma Yaocao. Are you doing this?" "Oh, why do you say we did it?" Huang Zongxi asked cautiously. "Guess! My brother guessed it as soon as he heard this couplet! No one in Liudu can have such courage except brother and others! You scold well and scold you happily! These two old thieves should Someone go and shave their ugly faces!" Gu Ling praised sincerely. "That's right," Sun Yongzuo also picked it up, "and the poem the day before yesterday, which was even more poignant and touching! I still remember—" So he wrote the words that appeared on the walls of the imperial city verbatim, He recited the poem about complaining for the "Prince", and then said: "Those who have no heart insist on saying that the prince is a fake sycophant. After reading this poem, do you feel ashamed?"

"How could you be ashamed?" Gu Ling curled her lips contemptuously, "Let's just talk about Ruan Huzi, he came to the banquet a few days ago, and my brother deliberately cited his "Civilization of Xunjiang Majesty" to ridicule him for boasting that he "dedicated himself, It's all after death', wanting to compare Zhuge Wuhou, it can be said that there is no shame in the world! Who knows that the beard listened, not only not aware of it, but boasting that Zhuge Wuhou is nothing, there is no chance to make my brother angry belly!" Sun Yongzuo nodded: "Fortunately, Mrs. Liu was not afraid of his annoyance, and corrected all the flaws in his "Swallow Notes" on the spot, which made him want to argue, which broke his arrogance!"

Gu and Sun just talked lively with each other, and Huang Zongxi who was at the side became impatient.The reason why he finally changed his original intention and decided to come here, besides wanting to do his younger brother's work, was another very important reason. On the eve of New Year's Eve, he was avoiding a sudden storm in the Qinhuai River Pavilion and met Qian Qian. Yi's disciple and in-laws, Qu Shisi.Qu Shisi was appointed as Yingtian Fucheng in August after Qian Qianyi.When Huang Zongxi met him, Qu Shixu had already been transferred to Zuoqian capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and was about to be ordered to governor Guangxi.In the past, when Huang Zongxi was studying at Qian Qianyi's home in Changshu, he often had contacts with Qu Shixu, and they were quite speculative.So after a deep discussion, Qu Shixu invited Huang Zongxi to leave Nanjing, where power and treachery ruled, and go south with him to Guangxi.At that time, Huang Zongxi considered that there was no one to entrust the social affairs at hand, and there was no prospect of rescuing Zhou Biao, so he declined.However, during the conversation, Qu Shixu also said that Qian Qianyi was not as bad as the outside rumors said, the reason why he flattered Ma, Ruan and others was to secure the last place for Donglin, so as to avoid any danger from the court Regarding the matter, Donglin didn't even have a single informant.Therefore, not only should the scholars of Fushe not attack Qian Qianyi in isolation, but should give him the necessary moral support so that he can persevere in the dangerous situation surrounded by political enemies.Regarding this warning, Huang Zongxi didn't say anything at the time, but he thought about it for a long time afterwards.Perhaps it was because of the series of setbacks in the past year, Huang Zongxi also began to realize that in a contest with an insidious opponent, it is far from enough to rely on blood and courage. Be careful.For example, this time, if Shen Shizhu, Yu Huai and others had not made an early decision to go to Hubei and Fujian to report and lobby, I am afraid that Ma, Ruan and others would not be able to restrain Ma, Ruan and others so effectively.Similarly, with regard to Qian Qianyi, if he has not completely swayed to the side of Ma and Ruan, it seems that he might as well pretend to win over... It is based on this new idea that today he decided to bring his younger brother to Qian Qianyi. Yi's home, intending to observe the situation with his own eyes.However, after listening to Gu and Sun's conversation for a while, Huang Zongxi suddenly felt disgusted again. "Hmph, it turns out that Qian Muzhai invited Ruan Huzi to his home without hesitation, treating him as a guest of honour, and he openly invited his concubine to accompany him! The level of flattery and filming is not just hypocrisy, it doesn't even need to be shameless It is!" Thinking of this, he felt rather regretful.If he hadn't considered how hard it was to get here, he had to get a better understanding of the situation, maybe he would have left in a hurry.But despite this, he couldn't regain his peace of mind, couldn't stop thinking about that matter, and became a little absent-minded about the conversation in front of him.He could only vaguely hear that the topic between the host and the guest had changed.It seems that Huang Zonghui talked to Gu and Sun about the purpose of coming to Nanjing, complained about the difficulties of being blocked, and asked the other party for help.Gu and Sun agreed wholeheartedly.This made Huang Zonghui very grateful and thanked him repeatedly. "That's right, I came here today, and I originally planned to help Zewang to become a candidate," Huang Zongxi thought to himself, "but if it turns out that Qian Muzhai has devoted himself to the powerful party, then I will not do it anyway. I will say this, and I won’t accept this kindness!" He was thinking, when he heard a burst of slow and slightly procrastinating footsteps, all the way from the gravel road outside the flower hall...

It was Qian Qianyi who came in.He had probably already received the report of Huang Zongxi's brother's visit, so he didn't go back to the study, but went straight to the flower hall in court clothes.He didn't go up to meet the Huang brothers, he didn't even look at the guests, his eyes, which were not too small, opened strangely, his thin dark face was deformed due to fright, and his body was trembling slightly.Having passed the threshold, he stood still, and said in a murmured but quite distinct voice: "A major event has happened! Zuo Liangyu—the army has rebelled!"

"Teacher, what did you say?" In the silence, Gu Ling's voice sounded. "Zuo Liangyu raised his troops in Wuchang, saying that he wanted to be on the side of the Qing emperor! He also issued a call to arms, claiming to be under the crown prince's secret edict, referring to Ma Yaocao and Ruan Yuanhai as traitors, and they were going to be punished by the court. The striker has arrived in Jiujiang. Jiang Governor Yuan Jixian Lian Shu was in a hurry, and he dared not intercept it with few soldiers. Today, the emperor has issued a decree to call Shi Daolin, the governor of Jiangbei, to cross the river to help, and ordered Jiuqing, six departments and thirteen departments to join forces to denounce. Now there are many rumors outside, and people are confused. I'm afraid there will be a big change!" Only then did Gu and Sun understand the teacher's words, and immediately became nervous, asking in unison: "Ah, then, what should I do then?" Qian Qianyi frowned, walked back and forth two steps with his hands behind his back, and said distractedly: "Originally, Zuo Liangyu's memorabilia is clearly written. His intention to raise troops this time is on the side of the Qing emperor, not the real one." Rebellion. It's just that the northern army is like a broken bamboo. It has fallen into Yingchuan and Taihe, and it has returned to Germany and traveled south. Guided to Xiangshan for 800 miles, there is no one to defend against it. Yang, Si, Pi, and Xu are in a state of chaos. A few days ago The imperial court has ordered Shi Daolin to strangle Xu and Si, and if he pulls out his camp and goes east to defend against the left, then Xu and Si will not be able to defend. Once Xu and Si are lost, the northern soldiers will go straight to Yangzhou, and the southern capital will be in jeopardy!" After a pause, he shook his head again and said, "Hey, it's really not the right time for Zuo Bing to come here!" "Then," Gu Ling blinked, and said hesitantly, "Since Zuo Liangyu didn't intend to embarrass the present, why didn't he tell the Emperor Ming to make Shi Daolin stick to Xu and Si to prevent northern soldiers?" Qian Qianyi shook his head and said with a wry smile: "During the court meeting today, Yao Sixiao, Qiao Kepin, Cheng Youqian and other officials from Yangzhou all thought that the left soldiers were slowing down and the northern soldiers were in a hurry, please do not withdraw the Jiangbei soldiers. At that time, the emperor also said: "Let Liu Liangzuo return the troops and stay in the north of the river to defend." But Ma Yaocao scolded Yao Sixiao and others angrily as the court halberd, saying that they were Donglin, and wanted to let the left soldiers invade on the pretext of defending the river. He also said that If the soldiers from the north arrive, we can still discuss the payment; if Zuo Liangyu arrives, he and the present will surely die, and we will all be high-ranking officials. Therefore, I swear that Liu Liangzuo will not be sent back to Jiangbei. The emperor sees him like this, and there is nothing he can do!" Huang Zongxi has been listening by the side without interjecting.He was also extremely surprised and shocked when he heard that Zuo Liangyu raised his troops brazenly.Because according to their original idea, they only want to force Ma Shiying and his like to submit by creating strong public opinion pressure from inside and outside, but they never thought of fighting with real swords and guns at all.In particular, with the development of the country to this point, the threat from the Qing army in the north cannot be ignored. "Ah, isn't it good to be like a few days ago? Just relying on those memorials arguing for the crown prince has frightened Ma and Ruan and others. Why don't you wait and see, why are you so In a hurry to raise troops?" For a moment, Huang Zongxi thought anxiously.However, when Qian Qianyi went on to say: Ma Shiying was in the imperial hall, and brazenly declared that "it is better to let the Qing soldiers go south than to let Zuo Liangyu go east", Huang Zongxi felt as if he had been scalded with a branding iron. She twitched violently, and suddenly became angry. "Hmph, don't let Zuo Liangyu go east! He said it lightly, as if he was really capable!" He interjected through gritted teeth, "He also said that he would rather let the Qing soldiers go south. It's really crazy, and this is the extreme! According to me Look, Zuo Liangyu's side of Qing Dynasty this time is really clear at the right time. If such powerful traitors are still allowed to control the government, deceive the Lord, and kill Zhongliang, this half of the south of the Yangtze River will undoubtedly be sold to Jianlu by him sooner or later! " After a pause, he saw that the people in the room, including Qian Qianyi, were all silent, as if they didn't quite agree with his statement. He was half arguing and half comforting: "Zuo Liangyu's troops are mixed in good and bad. It is true that the military discipline is not satisfactory. Zuo Ningnan is the only one who is loyal and can understand the general situation. I heard that he was stationed in Wuchang a few years ago. When passing through Wancheng, the guard Du Hongyu was also quite concerned about the place. Later, based on Liu Mazi's words, he generously promised Du Hongyu to help him picket. Now Liudu is an important place for the country, and the survival of the country depends on it. How can Zuo Ningnan not know? He will certainly be able to Strictly restrain the tribe, and don't allow them to be as loose and unrestrained as usual, no doubt!" After finishing speaking, he found that everyone was still silent, and Gu Ling and Sun Yongzuo were still exchanging glances and showing wry smiles, Huang Zongxi became anxious.At the same time, a heroic spirit suddenly appeared in my heart. "At that time," he said passionately, "if Zuo Ningnan fails to notice this, or if there is something negligent in controlling it, Wan Sheng is willing to go to the barracks alone, and speak out against his authority, even though he will be angered by this, and the blade will be sharpened." Body, also do not hesitate!" This time, Qian Qianyi finally spoke: "My nephew's pride and courage are commendable." He lowered his head slightly, and said slowly, apparently considering his words, "I know the ambition of serving the country with loyalty and loyalty. Only Zuo Ningnan's department Most of the people belong to thieves. This generation is purely driven by profit, and also driven by profit. Never had a heart of loyalty, let alone self-discipline. In the past, Zuo Ningnan always tolerated them, and he had no choice but to be strict. It is said that the good nephew will go to remonstrate in person at that time, and he will be able to make him do good, I am afraid..." "Why not!" Huang Zongxi retorted. Inspired by the idea he had flashed just now, he became even more confident, excited, and eager to try, and began to vividly imagine how he would behave in such a situation and occasion. Far beyond Liu Jingting's profound, eloquent, and irrefutable advice, the famous commander with an army of 800,000 was impressed and admired, and finally he did what a wise and brave hero would inevitably do. , generously agreed to his request. "Why not!" He repeated arrogantly, "Zuo Ningnan is not a coward, he is loyal and courageous, even Ma Yaocao and Ruan Yuanhai, he dared to fight against him, how could he even restrain his followers? Don’t you have the guts? Now, I’m afraid that someone who claims to be a disciple of a saint will forget the foundation of his life, and only want to curry favor with A Fu, a dog, a thief, and a traitor. In the end, he’s no better than a martial artist!” After speaking, seeing Qian Qianyi frowning and not saying a word, he cupped his hands and said "Farewell!" Then he flicked his sleeves and strode out.When Huang Zonghui, who was at a loss, called out and rushed to catch up in a panic, he had already left the gate and was walking on the official street lined up with pairs of stone lions.