Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Admonishment

The Mausoleum of Emperor Wanli is scheduled to be located at Dayu Mountain in Changping County, not far from the capital; before that, Shen Shixing and Prime Minister Ding Guogong Xu Wenbi had been dispatched to pre-build the mausoleum. Officials have come to investigate many times, and because the architectural sketches of the mausoleum are still undergoing minor revisions, the entire project has not yet officially started and the ground has not yet been broken. It's just a stage, and there is nothing too great to be busy. However, Shen Shihang's "reconnaissance" this time seemed to be extremely busy. After arriving at Dayu Mountain, he drove around in the mountains and forests early in the morning every day, and almost traveled all over Dayu Mountain. Every piece of land in Yushan, if he encounters a special terrain, a good landscape, or a direction where the wind is turbulent and the sun is smoky, he will not hesitate to get out of the car and walk on foot, in order to experience it personally; such a full survey After more than a month, he really got a very clear picture of every plant and tree on the planned ground of the mausoleum, and wrote a memorial to Emperor Wanli even more eloquently. Exhaustively reported all the detailed conditions on this land, which made Emperor Wanli very happy.

Therefore, as soon as he returned to the capital after this survey, Emperor Wanli immediately rewarded him with several honorary objects to commend his hard work; The minister actually broke out the biggest and sharpest conflict in his life. The courtiers who are officials with him, regardless of whether they agree with or against his actions, are well aware of his motivation and purpose for leaving Beijing to investigate Dayu Mountain this time to avoid the limelight. This kind of subconscious evasion behavior of Xiangyuan is more or less disapproving, thinking that he is responsible for the responsibility of the leader and the assistant. It is fine for those who behave mildly to shake their heads and sigh a few times, but a few people with strong and upright personalities adopt drastic methods. To express the dissatisfaction in my heart, and went to him directly.

Focusing on the second assistant Xu Guo, he gathered more than a dozen people including the assistant ministers Wang Xijue, Wang Jiaping, the head of the official department Gu Xiancheng, and the Dali Temple judge Luo Yuren. After several small meetings, specific actions were taken; They knew that if they asked to see Shen Shixing according to the normal procedures, there was a high possibility of being rejected, so they simply adopted an "extraordinary" method-reporting to Emperor Wanli about the survey of the planned site of the Dayu Mountain Mausoleum when Shen Shixing entered the palace. At that time, they came to Shen Shihang's mansion together and waited at the door for Shen Shihang who returned home.

The gate of the Shen Mansion is only opened for important events or important ceremonies, and the usual entry and exit are through the side door; the side door is not big, and a dozen cars and sedans came at once, causing a little chaos immediately ;However, the emperor paid off, they finally waited for Shen Shixing himself. Shen Shixing only saw the dozen or so people at the door when the servants were pulling up the car curtain for him, and almost immediately felt a feeling of "changing into elbows and armpits"; Escaping, of course the only way to face it is to brace yourself, force a smile, and drag all these people into the study.

However, Xu Guo, who has always had a strong personality and straightforward words, did not change his speaking attitude because of his courtesy, and became aggressive first: "The old grandfather's inspection this time can be described as the most hard work. Long live the century-old man!" Afterwards, I was able to enjoy all the glory and wealth in the underground palace, it was all thanks to my old grandfather..." His words were sharp and sharp, and he raised his voice, which sounded very harsh; Shen Shixing of course knew the purpose of these people without even guessing, and he also made up his mind to "dodge as much as possible", so, To these two sharp words, he only smiled lightly, avoiding the reaction that did not meet Xu Guo's eyes; however, Xu Guo's words were fired like a string of cannonballs: "The old grandfather is so loyal to the country. Working hard to stay away from the capital made the lower officials and other lowly officials extremely respectful; however, since the old grandfather is the head of the auxiliary ministers, even though he left the capital, all affairs in the court must still be in his heart. Therefore, the lower officials and others came here to personally Ask the old ancestors——Jingyan is the established ritual of our dynasty, and the old ancestors are in charge. Ask me, when can it be restored? This is one. Since ancient times, the reserve has been the foundation of the country, and the heirs and elders have been established. It is the patriarchal system, human relations, and the foundation of the country; now, the eldest son of the emperor is five years old and has not yet been registered, does the old grandfather think it is okay? The second is that the concubine Zheng favors the crown of the harem, and the promotion of the imperial concubine is not satisfied. I also want to establish my own son, but the birth mother of the eldest son of the emperor did not come into the fiefdom. As the head and assistant, the old grandfather is familiar with the etiquette of the court, so why would he admonish this "indecent" thing; the third..."

His words were almost three sentences in two, fast, high-pitched, and with a sense of oppression, which made Shen Shixing almost unable to resist, and he was silent for a long time before he managed to maintain his calm attitude and tone. , said in his usual slow tone: "These three things-haven't you all written the letter many times? The old man will try his best, try his best, try his best-oh, let's work together, try his best, try his best..." Xu Guo kept an eye on people: "As the chief assistant, my old grandpa, please take the lead in writing the letter!" Shen Shixing smiled shyly, "Oh—of course—of course..."

He smiled very reluctantly, and the words of the promise seemed to be forced out, and the expression on his face appeared very unnatural; in the eyes of the dozen or so people who came to him to fight, they felt that he was neither willing nor sincere, as if As if he was perfunctory about the scene in front of him; therefore, Gu Xiancheng, the head of the Ministry of Officials, ignored Wang Xijue, Wang Jiaping and other people who were older and higher than him, so Yue Li said to him first: "Old ancestor, the three This matter is about the lifeline of the country, so it cannot be ignored; the lower officials are willing to offend the mistakes of their superiors, and come to see the old grandfather. The common people in the world are concerned, and it is their duty to create the "Government of Wanli"..."

Gu Xiancheng is a gentleman of calligraphy——his talent is excellent, he has been interested in "sacred learning" since he was a child, he has worked hard, read a lot of books, and his knowledge is very good—but because of his good knowledge, his outlook on life still remains at the In the spiritual realm of the ancient sages and sages, there is a long distance from the dark side of real politics. The ideal of "creating a heart for the world and a life for the people" that is usually full of mouth can't be promoted in the official career. It has been several years, and he is still an official in charge.

But his manner of speaking was much gentler than that of Xu Guo, so that he would not embarrass Shen Shixing too much, and his words also contained high expectations, which made Shen Shixing's heart warm up unconsciously, so he Nodding his head in sympathy, he said vaguely: "Uh-uh-'Wanli Zhizhi', I try my best, I try my best..." However, the dozen or so people surrounding him couldn't feel the spark stimulated by the words "Wanli Zhizhi" in his heart. From the outside, his reaction was as usual meek, perfunctory, Lacking sincerity, he blindly practiced Taijiquan and Xiangyuan; Luo Yuren, who had lost his impetuous personality, immediately stood up like a "tiger" out of control, forced him in front of him, and said loudly: "Old Grandpa has tried his best! Heart, why don't you lead me into the palace to meet the saint immediately, and ask the Lord Long Live to immediately issue an edict to establish the crown prince, restore the early dynasty, Jingyan, abolish the Zheng noble concubine, and enter the concubine Wang Gong!"

A few words were heard by Shen Shixing's ears, and it was like five thunderbolts. He was so frightened that he shook his hands and said: "No way, no way! Long live God has not called, how can we enter the palace without permission?" Luo Yuren sneered and said, "What are you afraid of? It's great to let Jin Yiwei 'put down the stick'. It's better to change to a name that lasts forever than to be infamous for thousands of years in the future!" Shen Shixing gave a wry smile and didn't express any further opinions, but Luo Yuren looked at him with disdain, and said with his lips curled up, "I'm afraid that my old grandpa is still in love with the fame and position in front of me, and I just want to think about what to do." 'Admiring the emperor's heart', the reputation after ten thousand years has never been considered!"

These words were as sharp as a knife, and Shen Shixing was stabbed right away. No matter how much he tried to put on a magnanimity of "the prime minister can pull a boat in his belly", he couldn't show it. His wrinkled face was flushed red, his body was trembling in his clothes, and the wide sleeves of his robe were windless; then, he stood up angrily from his seat, still not forgetting to maintain his demeanor and bowed to the people seated. He cupped his hands and said, "Excuse me, old man!" As he said, he flicked his sleeves and walked out of the study with big strides. When he walked out the door, he almost bumped into Shen Yongmao who was about to walk in. Avoiding it, Shen Shixing left without looking back, Shen Yongmao who didn't understand why he called "Daddy" twice behind him, Shen Shixing ignored him at all, and walked away on his own. Shen Yongmao stepped over the threshold with one foot, and only then did he see clearly the dozen or so "guests" who came to the house. He greeted them one by one quickly, and then immediately fell into the siege of ten people——Shen Shixing As soon as they left, the object of everyone's conversation was naturally changed to Shen Yongmao. As an official in the court, Shen Yongmao was very clear about all the big and small things that happened in the court, and quickly figured out everyone's intentions; He agrees with everyone's opinions very much, and thinks that Emperor Wanli's behavior should be "remonstrated"; however, he does not agree to take the risk of being executed by Emperor Wanli to remonstrate directly - he proposed a compromise method He believes that the method of written advice should be adopted, which can not only achieve the purpose of the advice, but also avoid the possibility of confronting Emperor Wanli directly, and avoid the possibility of conflicts; moreover, everyone can also write letters one after another to create momentum; Then he is willing to take the responsibility of persuading his father to take the lead and sign his name in the memorial to Emperor Wanli... In this way, Shen Shixing was almost "forced" to give a memorial to Emperor Wanli, hoping that Emperor Wanli would appoint the eldest son Chang Luo as the crown prince as soon as possible, and restore the early court, Jingyan, and Rijiao as soon as possible. The imperial concubine; then, several memorials with the same content were sent to the court every day, and the ministers took turns to fight like a wheel battle, trying to change the mind and behavior of Emperor Wanli with exhaustive bombardment of words. However, Shen Shixing knew better than anyone else that all these efforts would be in vain, and that Emperor Wanli's mind and behavior would not be changed because of the ministers' advice; , Millions of letters, are unable to turn the tide and prevent the Ming Dynasty's national fortune from going downhill day by day, because Emperor Wanli will never go to see the memorial. What's more, if Emperor Wanli saw these memorials and was irritated, it would be a worrisome ending—maybe just like the "Great Rites" during Sejong's time, all ministers who "violated the emperor's heart" were all punished. Chu Tingzhang killed more than a hundred people on the spot! Therefore, after the memorial was submitted, he was really worried for many days. It was not until a few days later that Emperor Wanli did not react in anger, and his heart gradually calmed down; it was replaced by another kind of worry. ——Emperor Wanli, as he expected, did not read these memorials at all, let alone accept the advice of the ministers; and the remarks of the ministers have become so intense that it is difficult to calm down—the whole situation is difficult to deal with The crisis of the crisis, the Emperor Wanli's failure to go to the court, not to establish a reserve, and allowing the situation to deteriorate will bring unimaginable consequences-it is becoming more and more difficult for him to sit in the "chief assistant" seat. However, thinking about it, he did not take any specific actions other than sighing a few times, and the situation did not improve slightly because of this. Emperor Wanli still only enjoyed life in the deep palace every day with Concubine Zheng inseparable. In the last court, they did not receive ministers, let alone cared about the court, state affairs, and the people. However, the ministers’ speeches had reached a point of ignitance, and the people began to react to the opposition to the Chu. The whole country of the Ming Dynasty was shrouded in a strange atmosphere. middle. And these abnormal situations, through the eyes and ears arranged by Li Chengliang in the capital, all of them reached Li Chengliang's ears, and through the eyes and ears arranged by Nurhachi around Li Chengliang, some of them were revealed to Nurhachi's ears. Li Chengliang's reaction was to wait and see what happened - firstly, he was a border commander, and he was far away from the capital, and these matters were not within his scope of authority; No matter how important it is, Concubine Zheng's line has already been cleared, so there is no need to worry too much. The only thing he must pay close attention to is the domino reaction of this matter, that is, the personnel changes in the court, the Chief Assistant and the Minister of the Ministry of War. It's just who is holding the position with which he is closely related! However, Nurhachi was aroused by these news and had never had a curiosity before; for the "Great Ming Dynasty", it was because he didn't understand it in the past, and he was frightened by the huge scale of this empire. Resisted, let alone the entire Ming Dynasty?Therefore, what exists in the heart is only a vague, distant and huge impression, and a kind of unconscious worship is naturally formed; the land is vast, the population is large, and the army is strong-the scale is thousands of times that of the entire Jurchen tribe. Therefore, When the incidents that happened in the court of the Ming Dynasty reached his ears, his first reaction was: "It turns out that the Ming Dynasty also has problems..." He began to re-establish a new understanding of the Ming Dynasty in his heart - it also has problems, the "big country" is also a "country", it is the world, not heaven - he even had a strange idea, wanting to visit the Ming Dynasty himself Going to the border of the DPRK to see what happened, the legendary Ming Palace was built like a fairy, and the emperor was extremely noble-but now, the problem happened because the emperor gave birth to two sons! This, he finds it unbelievable—he already has four sons: Chu Ying, Daishan, Abai, and Tang Gu, but there is no problem of "establishing a crown prince" at all—and the beautiful Concubine Zheng Gui who provoked the court problem , which aroused his great curiosity, can a concubine influence such a big country? The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and his desire to get a glimpse of the truth became stronger; of course, it was more difficult to go to the Ming Dynasty by himself, but it was not difficult to inquire about more information. There are also quite a few Han merchants who come to Liaodong to do business, and they can get some information from them, and gradually piece it together, which will also help him understand the Ming Dynasty in a comprehensive way—he seems to be obsessed, and he wants to understand the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly. Everything is in the heart.