Chapter 3 third quarter

The funeral ceremony for Mu Zong and Empress Jiashun was scheduled for March 26.The empress dowagers of the two palaces and the emperor decided to start the Luan on March 21. Except for the princes and ministers who accompanied them, all the officials who were going to the funeral left early, and the younger the officials, the earlier they left. Among the small officials, there is Wu Kedu, the head of Jixun Division of the Ministry of Officials, but he is an old celebrity in the Beijing Dynasty. He is named Liutang, a native of Lanzhou, Gansu, and a Jinshi in the 30th year of Daoguang.Before becoming famous, unkempt, suave and self-satisfied, Juren who went to Beijing for the exam, those who were rich lived in hotels, those who had no money lived in guild halls, those who loved quietness lived in temples, and the one thing that never changed was that they were convenient for studying at the end of the day." Grind your guns before the battle."Only Wu Kedu is different. He lives in a "Qingyin small class" in Shanxi Lane. The girl he belongs to is called Cuihua. , beyond words.Wu Kedu is a very caring person, touched by emotion, never to return, never to return after death, he believes that Cuihua is a confidant, with eyelids for support, heart warm, and she takes care of the dressing table every day.Cuihua frowns and smiles, there is always a long time to think about it, and she throws the test basket in the corner, and the dust is so thick.Therefore, he got an extremely indecent nickname: Wu Daprostitute.

This year was the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang, and the Chunwei list was released, and Wu Da's prostitution was defeated.Cuihua cried for him, but Wu Kedu felt that her tears were as precious as those of the Golden Palace Luge.Therefore, with the excuse that Lanzhou is far away, it is better to study in Beijing, and I am still obsessed with Jinghua.It was the best plan to fail the general examination, stay in Beijing to study, and prepare for the next general examination. However, everyone couldn't help but suspect Wu Da's motives for whoring. After several months, it proved that Wu Kedu did not plan to make a comeback at all, so some teachers, relatives and friends wanted to intervene.There was an old man in the imperial court who was the "teacher" of another country's examination. They sent someone to find him. To save his face, he didn't say that he was depressed in the gentle village. It is better to study in a secluded ancient temple, and advise him to live in the "Nine Heavens Temple" outside Guang'anmen.

The Jiutian Temple is the public property of the Guanzhong Guild Hall, and there is no need to spend rent to live there.This is a trivial matter, the main thing is the teacher's words, out of the kindness of his lover Yide, it cannot be refuted, so Wu Kedu had to move from Cuihua's incense nest to the desolate Jiutian Temple, planning to make a good use of it. Who would have thought that choosing a seat on the first day, remembering the old days on the second day, and causing lovesickness to explode on the third day, she still moved back to Shanxi Lane to wish her sister love talent, but she couldn't match the "bustard love money" and went to bedside gold At the end, Cuihua's complexion is not very good-looking.In the end, he was unable to keep enough food and clothing, so he had to ask his fellow countrymen to "complain for help".

"It's easy to help the poor and help the poor, not to mention that your difficulties are caused by yourself. Of course we are thinking of the fellowship, but we are afraid that some people who don't know the inside story will be suspicious." His fellow villagers advised him to go back to Jiutian Temple and live. Said it was a condition of helping him. Wu Kedu had no choice but to obey.At that time, the Sixi Troupe, one of the four major Hui troupes, was reinstated by Yu Sansheng, and the event was revitalized. Someone made a couplet based on these two events, saying: "Yu Sansheng revives the Sixi Troupe, and Wu Da prostitutes again." Live in Nine Heavens Temple."

No matter how open-minded Wu Kedu is, he can't be ashamed. Thinking about his age, his fame has not yet been established, and he has the ardent hope of his mother, he can't be a human being!So in the Jiutian Temple, I spent more than a year working hard.In the 30th year of Daoguang's Gengxu Divisional Examination, he won the Jinshi. Although he never entered the Hanlin Academy, he did not "get off the list" to be a county magistrate. In the tenth year of Xianfeng, the Anglo-French allied forces invaded the capital. Wu Kedu's old mother was ill and could not be frightened.He was promoted to be a doctor of the Ministry of officials, and later he was admitted to the censor. Because he impeached a Manchurian general, he caused a great disturbance and almost lost his life.

This Manchurian named Cheng Lu, who lived in Urumqi as an admiral, falsely reported his military exploits, saying that he had won a great victory.Zuo Zongtang, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, who was appointed as the general secretary of the Western Expedition, played a severe impeachment.And Wu Kedu also received bloody and tearful letters from his fellow countrymen, with inexplicable grief and indignation, and accused Chenglu of impeachment, "ten of those who can be beheaded, and five who cannot be beheaded." So Chenglu was "dismissed and questioned". The first thing to discuss is to make a decisive decision.But Cheng Lu has great supernatural powers and is powerful enough to return to heaven.The military aircraft spoke for him first, and Mu Zong also protected him, changing from beheading Lijue to beheading the supervisor, there is room for protection in the middle.In the autumn trial, you can choose not to, and then find another opportunity, such as the emperor's wedding and grace, the sentence can be commuted, or even released.In short, this "waiting", Cheng Lu's head was saved.

Wu Kedu was so indignant that he went up to Shu and fought hard, and he was very aggressive in his wording, saying, "Please behead Chenglu to thank Ganmin, and then behead ministers to thank Chenglu." Mu Zong was furious, thinking that Wu Kedu was deceiving him when he was young, so To dare to contradict him like this, he must use his head. The empress dowagers of the two palaces knew that Wu Ke was good at reading, and that killing the speaker was a sign of subjugation, so she tried hard to persuade him.Reluctantly, the emperor was just like Wu Kedu, and he was so angry that he even refused to listen to the words of the Empress Dowager Ci'an.

So Chun Wang came forward to vent his anger on the emperor's behalf.On this day, the Six Departments and Nine Ministers reconsidered Cheng Lu's crimes, and the manuscripts had been carefully considered, but King Chun suddenly arrived, and as soon as he arrived, he took out a manuscript, and asked someone to read it aloud for approval. Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned, King Chun meant to punish Wu Kedu for his crime.Everyone here thought it was impossible, the only exception was Sang Chunrong, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice. "The prince is big, the middle hall is small, I follow the prince." After finishing speaking, he wrote vigorously and signed the manuscript of King Chun.

Minister of the Ministry of punishment is like this, what else is there to discuss?So according to King Chun's replay, Wu Kedu, like Cheng Lu, was also "dismissed and questioned". During the joint trial of the three courts, the Ministry of Punishment agreed and sentenced Wu Kedu to death.It has always been a rule that "the whole hall must promise" to convict a death penalty, and both are indispensable.Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Left and Right Ministers: Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Left and Right Deputy Censors; Zhengqing and Shaoqing of Dali Temple, a total of thirteen hall officials, drew lines on the manuscript one by one, and drew them to Shaoqing of Dali Temple Wang Jiabi, no matter what, refused to write.

Because of Wang Jiabi's uprightness, Wu Kedu saved his life and was charged with exile.As a result, his straight voice not only moved the world, but also "shocked ghosts and gods".He, Wu Guanli, Chen Baoju, and Zhang Peilun like to play with shamans. The person who often came to the altar was a poet named Wu Tailai during the Qianlong period. After Wu Kedu was convicted, he made a five-character rhythm in the altar, titled In "Twenty Rhymes to Liu Tang", the epigram that has been recited for a while is: "The universe has two tearful eyes, and the iron stone has a Confucian crown", which fully expresses Wu Ke's strength and integrity.

In addition, there are many good lines that can be recited: "The heart of the Tao entertains Baishi, and the nightmare reaches Qingluan. Du Yu has three spring rains, and the blue sky is full of evening waves. It is not a grass that comes out of the mountain, and it is Yilan that does not die."But the meaning of the language is blurred and obscure, and the mystery of the fairy family is difficult to understand. It is very obvious to just focus on the meaning of Wu Ke's reading, and the sentence "Come out of the mountain is not a small grass" has a long-term prospect. Fan career.Therefore, during the "farewell" at Zhu Peilun's house, generosity outweighed sorrow, and in anticipation of Jinghua's reunion, he had to do his best to help ZTE. Wu Kedu returned to his hometown and still gave lectures at Lanshan Academy.Soon after Mu Zonglong was in charge of the guests, Empress Dowager Cixi was determined to update. Officials who were convicted because of their suggestions were spared punishment. Wu Kedu also recovered. He is a very affectionate person, loyal and loving, not because Mu Zong once wanted to kill him, but because the Empress Dowager Cixi did not set up an heir for Mu Zong, he was deeply worried, so he planned a memorial at that time, hoping to persuade him . "Speaking up is valuable." Some people dissuaded, "If you are a minister who is guilty, if you take the liberty to say this, someone will misunderstand your original intention. No matter how reasonable your words are, it will not be easy for people to accept. Moreover, the situation is chaotic at this time, and there are many rumors. The current events you quoted may not be accurate, so it’s better to read them. As long as you don’t change your mind, there will always be opportunities to make suggestions.” Wu Kedu felt that what he said was reasonable, so he dismissed the original proposal.But in the past five years, he has never changed his mind and never changed his mind. When the big funeral is due, he made up his mind and asked the Minister of the University's Ministry of Officials, Bao Jun, to appoint him as an "official follower and salute". Some people are unwilling to go on this long-distance travel errand because they are afraid of the hardship, and some people rush to go because they can get a few tens of taels of silver for the transportation fee.Wu Kedu's situation is not good, so it's not surprising that everyone thinks that he wants this job because of the transportation expenses of tens of taels of silver. When he set off, he had the same demeanor, and told his wife and children that after paying ceremonies in Huiling, he planned to visit Panshan Mountain in Jizhou on the way, and he would return to Beijing ten days and a half months later than others. As soon as he arrived, he rented a room at the Sanyi Temple at Mashen Bridge, thirty miles east of Jizhou.Sanyi Temple enshrines Liu, Guan, and Zhang, who have nothing to do with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The temple is inhabited by Taoists. He made friends with the abbot Zhou Laodao, and agreed to come to the temple after the major events in the mountain tomb. At the end of March, the empress dowagers of the two palaces, the emperor, the princes and ministers who followed him, and all the civil and military officials had all returned to Beijing.Wu Kedu went to Sanyi Temple to fulfill the contract, chatted with Zhou Laodao during the day, closed the door at night to write a memorial, and then wrote a letter to his son Wu Zhihuan. It was a suicide note, and Wu Kedu had already made up his mind to die. On the fifth and fifth day of the third lunar month, everything was done, and the leftovers were placed in my arms. There were three suicide notes, one for his son; Explain the original intention of making a statement with death, please deliver the legacy, and put it under the pillow together with more than forty taels of silver.Then he inscribed a deadly poem on the whitewashed wall: "Looking back at the sixty-eight years, the past is empty talk about love and loyalty, the clay has become the emperor's tripod, and the former star wishes the Ziwei Palace. There are very few seniors, and Mr. Everywhere wants to be with you! Knowing the place of love for lonely ministers, east of Jimen in Huiling, wind and rain." After finishing the problem, he hanged himself, but he never died if the rope broke.Instead, he died by taking poison. Early the next morning, Zhou Laodao of the Sanyi Temple discovered the accident, notified the dibao, and went to the city to report.Liu Zhiyan, the magistrate of Jizhou, and Wu Kedu were acquaintances, and he had to report that he sighed endlessly. He immediately went to the countryside to meet him, and saw the deceased lying on a plank bed, neatly dressed. Opening and reading the suicide note, Wu Kedu had already made arrangements for his funeral. He asked Zhou Laodao to buy a coffin for the funeral, and bought a piece of land near Huiling for burial.The letter to Liu Zhiyan was to entrust him to send the legacy to the Ministry of Officials to play on his behalf.Before Wu Kedu's death, he was no longer an official, and the official could not play it by himself. He had to ask the hall official of the department to deliver it. The legacy was sealed in a wooden box, hidden on the body, and could not be opened, so I don't know what he said?But you might as well open up the letter to his son to see the meaning of the text in detail. What is written in the posthumous letter must be an earth-shattering event.Liu Zhiyan thought in his heart that he might be offended if he left it behind. He would be buried near Huiling, and his wish to be attached to the late emperor under the spring might be difficult to achieve.For a meeting, he had to do his best for his last big event.Therefore, in accordance with his will, he ordered Zhou Laodao to buy a coffin for the funeral, and then find a place for burial outside the Huiling area.It took two days to complete the cooking before reporting to Shuntian Mansion. Jingli got the news on the tenth day of the third lunar month.As a person like Wu Kedu, he would never commit suicide for no reason, and when he heard that there was a legacy, he became more and more concerned. I don't know if there is a grievance to sue, or to use death to make a suggestion?Linggui and Wan Qingli, ministers of the Ministry of Officials, and Bao Jun from the Department of Academic Affairs, were even more nervous. Knowing that Wu Kedu was a straightforward person, they were afraid that there would be some serious and taboo words in the legacy, which would offend the Empress Dowager Cixi and be punished accordingly. . When they received the petition from Shuntian Mansion, Bao Yun and the others hesitated a lot, because at this time, from the mouth of the person who knew Wu Kedu's ambition well, and from the suicide note to his son, it was said that "the loyalty and filial piety in every history book Jieyi, I can’t help sighing and envious, talking about current affairs to my friends; in accordance with the situation of the ancients, sometimes singing, crying and wanting to dance, I can’t help myself. Therefore, when the former emperor was in heaven, I planned to fold it and wanted to be presented by the Metropolitan Procuratorate.” Judging from these words, it can be seen that there must be some disputes for Mu Zong's succession and unification.And this matter is precisely the Empress Dowager Cixi's unpredictable intentions, and it is too taboo to say nothing. Wan Qingli was opposed to acting on behalf of me. "According to the traditional rules, the secretary please hand over the folded documents, and ask the officials and the public to read them together. If there is no violation, they can act on behalf of me." He said, "Wu Liutang's legacy , I have to watch it before I talk about it.” This is an important matter of the Zongshe, which is not suitable for small ministers to discuss, and with Wu Kedu's temperament, he did not hesitate to die, and the wording was naturally fierce.Although Bao Yun and the others were afraid of the Empress Dowager Cixi, they must also be afraid of the Qing Dynasty. Loyal ministers remonstrated and blocked the news, and it was too much for the officials to participate in a book, so they didn't know how to answer Wan Qingli's words. There is one exception, Mu Zong's father-in-law, Mongolian number one scholar Chongqi, who was the left servant of the Ministry of Officials at this time, felt Wu Kedu's loyalty and love for Mu Zong, so of course he wanted to speak for him. "Otherwise!" He refuted Wan Qingli as soon as he opened his mouth, "Please deliver the folded documents, the secretary. It is a common practice that the public should read it together, but it is not used now. The 'public reading' is in front of this secretary." Looking at it together, Wu Liutang is no longer alive, so the word "gongtong" cannot be mentioned.What's more, this is a secret book, and even military planes cannot be dismantled and read without authorization.Only by sealing it in as it is is the right thing to do. " "If there are any contradictory words in it, Wen Weng," Wan Qingli warned, "You and I have a serious relationship!" "Since you can't disassemble and read without authorization, and don't know about it, what's the matter?" Although Chongqi had a plausible speech, other than him, the officials of the first middle hall and the sixth hall could not help but worry, fearing that the "Merciful Sage" would be angry and embarrass King Chun.This is almost inevitable. When it comes to establishing an heir for Mu Zong, it must involve "Jin Shang", and it will also involve the King Chun who may become the "Emperor Supreme" in a few years. Therefore, after repeated debates, there was no conclusion. Of the seven people, the most important one was naturally Bao Yun.He is the chief executive officer of Chongqi's No. 1 Scholar subject, so Chongqi kept saying "teacher" and hoped that he would take his opinion. Although Bao Jun was not afraid of offending King Chun, he never dared to anger Empress Dowager Cixi, so he had to delay attitude, decided to listen to the clear discussion before speaking. Qing Yi is in the hands of "Qing Liu".Qingliu implicitly regards Li Hongzao as the suzerain, and regards the "Four Remonstrances of the Imperial Academy" as the backbone. There are different opinions about the "four remonstrances". One is Huang Tifang, Bao Ting, Zhang Peilun, and Zhang Zhidong; the other is Chen Baoju and Deng Chengxiu, but there are no Huang Tifang and Zhang Zhidong. Similarly, his main job is to raise people and donate officials. He has been admitted to the censor long ago, and he can't avoid the powerful in fighting. Because of his character Tiexiang, he got a nickname, "Iron Man". Apart from Deng's "Iron Man", Zhang Peilun showed his sharpness. Recently, he and Deng Chengxiu are in the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, He Shouci. In terms of the number of chapters, He Shouci has been strictly ordered to take responsibility, and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry is about to fail.At the moment when he was getting excited, he suddenly received the sad news that Wu Kedu committed suicide. Not to mention the old friend's affection, just the word "corpse remonstrance" makes people feel infinitely tragic and exciting.They are also Qingliu, so they naturally want to support and praise them, so they put He Shouci's participation in the case for the time being, and concentrate on the official department, to see how they deal with Wu Kedu's legacy. "We can't procrastinate any longer!" Shen Guifen persuaded Baojun, "Qingliu has found a good topic, and this article will be very lively. Mr. Pei, there is nothing wrong with making mistakes!" "Oh," Bao Jun asked, "what are they going to do with that article?" "First, I plan to set up a sacrifice in Wenchang Pavilion to summon souls. Look, I don't know how many elegiac couplets with rich emotions and texts!" I heard that there is a plan to invite the Sanyi Temple in Jizhou to be converted into an ancestral hall. It is being carried out with great fanfare, how can the remnants of Pei Gong and Wu Liutang be suppressed?" Hearing this advice, Bao Jun no longer hesitated, and wrote a memorial report, wording it according to Chongqi's words: "The minister and other inspectors submit the written memorial, and the court official and other officials will read it together. There is no violation of the wording, and it will be played. Wu Kedu, the chief minister sent by the minister to accompany the ceremony, has taken poison and died, and the document is sealed and preserved by himself. I disassembled and read it, but I didn't dare to block the news, so I would like to present the original memorial to the emperor." Presenting it to the Empress Dowager Cixi, she unconsciously became terrified and cautious.She read too much about the minister's remnants, some were dictated a sentence or two, and later generations wrote it perfunctorily;It's just that Wu Ke read this book, every word is written by himself, that is, every word is said from the bottom of his heart, in order to show his loyalty and love, he did not hesitate to die to show his ambition, it is really pitiful. Because of this pity, she was ready to accept the "violation of words", carefully opened the cover with an ivory paper knife, took out the text, spread it on the table, and flattened the creases with her hands. At the same time, he ordered the court lady to add a huge candle as thick as an arm, so that she could take a closer look at this relic. Open Wu Ke's relics, and look at the handwriting first. It is written in light ink with the style of a celebrity.Read it carefully from the beginning, and the reason directly reveals the main purpose of the full text: "Zuu is to weep after death to ask for the decree, and to prescribe the return of the great unification, so as to complete the loyalty and love of this life." After reading this, the Empress Dowager Cixi breathed a sigh of relief. The sentence she was afraid to hear was: why not make an heir for Mu Zong?This is a question: Why is the throne passed on to the nephew but not to the grandson?This will lead to two selfish intentions that cannot be justified: the first is to set up an heir for Mu Zong and take over the reunification, so she will be the empress dowager instead of the queen mother, so it is inconvenient to hang down the curtain again; second, Mu Zong's cousins ​​are different. , why did she choose her nephew?Looking at Wu Ke's original intention now, "predetermining the return of the great unification" is about the future, not about the present, so you can rest assured. However, there are some words that are heart-piercing: "The empress dowagers of the two palaces made mistakes again and again. They set up a son for Emperor Wen Zongxian, but not for my Daxing Emperor. If you don't make an heir for my Daxing Emperor, then today's emperor inherits Datong was ordered by the empress dowagers of our two palaces, and was received by Emperor Wen Zongxian, not by our Emperor Daxing! In the future, the inheritance of Datong will not be enshrined, and it must belong to the successor's son. That is That is to say, since the phrase "inheritance as heir" is included in Yizhi's decree, it goes without saying that the great rule will still belong to the stepson. The guilty officials secretly thought it was not the case." Seeing this, the Empress Dowager Cixi was troubled.On the fifth day of December in the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, Mu Zong died, and he became the successor of Datong as the son of King Chun. At that time, according to the decree drawn up by Pan Zuyin and Weng Tonghe, it was clearly stipulated that "Emperor Qisi has a son, and he will succeed Emperor Daxing as heir." Wu Kedu has already understood this meaning, so why do you think it is not the case? Therefore, she read the following paragraph very carefully.Wu Kedu used two allusions, one is the prime minister in the early Song Dynasty, which violated the order of succession predetermined by Empress Dowager Du: Taizu passed on to Taizong, Taizong passed on to Taizu's eldest son, and supported Taizong to pass on to his son.One is during the Jingde period of the Ming Dynasty, the academician Wang Zhi expressed his approval for Emperor Jing to abolish his nephew Jianshen who had been established as the crown prince, and replaced his own son Jianji as the crown prince. Empress Dowager's edict.What Wu Ke read meant was that although there is an order for the Empress Dowager today, it can't be done right. Like Jian Shen, "this is the case for those whose name and position have been determined, but the situation is still undecided?" And one return is the correct policy. I just pray that the empress dowagers of my two palaces will make a clear decree. In the future, the great power will still belong to me and inherit the heir of the Daxing emperor. It is not allowed to advance with dissenting words. Rectification of names and delineation of divisions, there are different predictions, so it is still the law of the ancestors of this dynasty, and the sons have passed on the family law of the sons. However, the Emperor Daxing has no sons but has sons, that is, the empress dowagers of my two palaces have no sons. Grandchildren have grandchildren." There is no need to look any further.The Empress Dowager Cixi is already very shrewd in reading the papers of ministers and workers. Wu Ke read this eloquent article of nearly two thousand words just to make use of the words "rectify the name and determine the score, and predict the eight characters in advance". In her feeling, the words are It’s nothing special, as long as I am alive for a day, I can absolutely control the situation, and even if there are signs of “dissent”, I can take preventive measures at any time. Wu Kedu compares himself with the Queen Mother Du of the Song Dynasty and the Queen Mother Sun of the Ming Dynasty , is ridiculous, but no wonder he. What moved and puzzled her was that there were really such stupid people in the world!He did not hesitate to sacrifice his own life for the "diversity" that may not happen in a few decades, to show that his foresight is not unfounded, and he hopes that the court will pay attention to it. Why do you think it is so deep for others and so clumsy for yourself? After sighing for a long time, I came back to consider how to deal with this excerpt.In this regard, her thinking is particularly sharp. Although Wu Kedu's remonstrance seems to be mediocre, but the way of speaking is not what it used to be, and giving advice with death is the highest state for a person of bone to stand in the world. The excitement of clear discussion, It is conceivable, so the disposal must be cautious.Otherwise, a small ripple can create sinister waves. Thinking about it like this, I couldn't help but think of Empress Dowager Ci'an.She is no longer in charge of things, and this matter must be taken care of by her!Because in Wu Ke's memorial, although it says "the empress dowagers of the two palaces", in fact it has nothing to do with the empress dowager Ci'an, but because of this, she must be pulled together as a shield. So she coughed lightly, and just turned her face away to see who was there, but Li Lianying had already walked away first and entered her field of vision. "Come here!" Empress Dowager Cixi said, "Go to 'over there' and have a look!" "Cha!" Li Lianying asked, "Are you inviting Master Dong Fo to come over, or are you saying that Master is going to see Master Dong Fo?" Empress Dowager Cixi thought for a while and said, "I'll go! Take this box with you." "Cha!" Li Lianying gestured outwards, indicating to the eunuchs serving in the corridor to prepare to be soft, and then swiftly put the memorial spread out on the table into the yellow box and held it in her hands.