Chapter 18 Chapter 18 The Silent Contest

The whole person theory that has been passed down in China for thousands of years tells us that if we want to fix a person, if we can’t find any loopholes in work, then we should look for his own weaknesses and start from his private life. Zhang Zhong believes that as long as he is a person, there must be weaknesses Weaknesses, but Mr. Wang Shouren is really a miracle. He seldom drinks, doesn't visit brothels, doesn't play mahjong, doesn't engage in feudal superstition, and is a good law-abiding citizen. Zhang Zhong had a very headache. He racked his brains and thought hard, and finally found a weakness in Wang Shouren that he thought could be exploited—thinness.

I believe that to the surprise of many people, Mr. Wang Shouren, an excellent military strategist, is not a strong man. He has always been in poor health. According to historical records, he has always suffered from lung disease and his body is relatively thin. Zhang Zhong looked at Wang Shouren, who was as thin as a bamboo pole, and came up with an idea to punish him. Of course, the consequences of this matter were beyond his expectation. One day in November of the fourteenth year of Zhengde (1519), Zhang Zhong suddenly came to invite Wang Shouren to watch the training of the Beijing army. Forced to do so, Wang Shouren had no choice but to agree.

Going to the place to see, the Beijing army is practicing archery.Mr. Wang was just about to sit down and watch, but Zhang Zhong suddenly walked over and blocked his sight.In his hand, he held a bow. Zhang Zhong asked Wang Shouren to shoot an arrow, but Wang Shouren said that he couldn't shoot well, so he didn't shoot. Zhang Zhong said that it was okay not to shoot, but Wang Shouren said that's fine, I will shoot. Using archery to embarrass literati is a good idea Zhang Zhong came up with after searching his brain. I really don't know how his head is long. The Beijing army stopped their practice, they were going to see the weak Mr. Wang make a fool of himself.

Amid the presumptuous chatter and contemptuous gazes, Wang Shouren walked onto the archery field. He held his breath, nocked the arrow, drew the bow, the bow was full, and the arrow shot out. Ten rings (middle red heart). There was complete silence all around. He took a deep breath and drew a second arrow from the quiver. Draw the bow, the bow is full, and the arrow shoots out. It's still ten rings (secondary red hearts). Zhang Zhong's jaw was about to drop, he stared blankly at this thin literati, dumbfounded. Wang Shouren ignored Zhang Zhong. He continued to repeat simple movements. In his world, it seemed that there were only these few movements left: draw the bow, draw the bow fully, and shoot the arrow.

Still ten rings (three hearts). Then he turned around, returned the bow to Zhang Zhong, and returned to his seat without saying a word, as if everything in front of him had nothing to do with the three arrows on the target. After a brief silence, the surrounding Beijing army suddenly let out loud cheers. They admired the strange man in front of them.No one would have thought that Mr. Wang, who is gentle and pleasant, would have such a skill. These Beijing soldiers were completely overwhelmed by Wang Shouren. They had been instigated by others to humiliate him in every possible way and provoke disputes to make things difficult for him. But the result of this struggle was: Wang Shouren won, completely.There is no use of force or power, just convincing others with virtue.

Amidst the earth-shattering cheers, Zhang Zhong felt fear, outright fear. He realized that these former helpers would no longer help him do evil, and they might turn around to deal with him at any time. So two days after this archery performance, he led his army to withdraw from Jiangxi, and the Beijing army rebellion that lasted for several months ended. The people in Jiangxi were liberated, but Wang Shouren will stand a greater test because of this. Looking at Zhang Zhong who came back in a state of embarrassment, Jiang Bin was furious. He couldn't understand at all why he couldn't do anything to a little Wang Shouren despite his high position and weight.

You can't fight anymore, if you want to punish him, kill him! This time, in the spirit of assiduity and earnestness, he prepared to plan a real conspiracy, a trap that could kill Wang Shouren. While Mr. Jiang Bin was studying hard, Mr. Zhu Houzhao was fishing. Zhu Hou didn't know about Jiang Bin's various behaviors, and he didn't want to know. He only knew that he was very free now, and he wanted to continue to be free. After leaving Shandong, he arrived in Nanzhili (now Jiangsu and Anhui). There are many lakes in this area. Mr. Zhu Houzhao is very enthusiastic. He must fish every time he arrives. He is quite generous and distributes the fish he catches to the left and right. Ministers.

The ministers were of course very grateful. After thanking you a thousand times, they heard this sentence: "Where's the money?" Everyone was dumbfounded. It turns out that Mr. Zhu Houzhao's fish can't be bought for nothing, and he has to pay for it!It seems that His Majesty the emperor has a modern concept of labor, and he must be paid for his labor. Zhu Houzhao is not short of money, and he can't make much money by doing this. In a word, isn't it just for fun. Just like this, I went all the way, and when I arrived in Yangzhou, I caused a lot of trouble. At that time, Yangzhou was one of the largest cities in the country. It is said that the population had reached more than one million, and it was very prosperous. Of course, there is another important reason why it is famous here-there are many beautiful women.

However, in December of the 14th year of Zhengde (1519), a strange phenomenon unique in Chinese history appeared on the streets of this famous city. The street was chaotic, and people were standing everywhere, but these people almost kept the same expression and movement - looking left and right, these people looked around, just to do one thing - to grab people. The method of robbing people is very simple: a group of people go to the street, and when they meet a man, they will pull him home without saying a word. When the person who was robbed tremblingly arrived at the place, wondering whether the group wanted money or life, he saw the long-prepared gong and drum team and the bride dressed up.

Then someone came up to him and told him, you are the groom. The reason for this dramatic scene is very simple - Zhu Houzhao likes beautiful women. If the emperor is interested in things, someone will naturally do it for him, and the person who volunteered and acted on his own is a eunuch named Wu Jing. It is a pity that this Wu Jing is not a good person. He arrived in Yangzhou first and seized many houses, saying that the emperor wanted them to use them. Then he recruited (robbed) many unmarried women, also saying that the emperor wanted them to use them. For this Wu Jing's behavior, many history books have used a common word to describe it-Jiao Shangyi.

In layman's terms, it is to do bad things in the name of the emperor and let the emperor take the blame.Because Zhu Houzhao didn't ask him to do these immoral things. Objectively speaking, Zhu Houzhao has indeed done many absurd things, and his private life is also rich and colorful, but judging from his consistent performance of tolerating ministers and being able to distinguish right from wrong, this person is quite reliable, but he can't tolerate the same and old-fashioned In his life, he likes to be free and travel freely. And this kind of hobbies are difficult for those traditional civil servants and scholars to accept, and he is not interested in playing with old men and bureaucrats, so in the end, the people who accompany him are some dubious little boys who can have fun. people. These people don't have any sense of responsibility to take the world as their own responsibility. They serve this uncle every day for nothing more than money. It is really natural for them to take advantage of the opportunity to earn some money by doing business. So in my opinion, although Zhu Houzhao has a lot of scapegoats, he is not wronged. After all, people have to get paid to play with you. Wu Jing is such a wage earner. After occupying a house and robbing a woman, he deliberately let it out and let others redeem it with money, which is also a way to generate income. By doing this, he not only ruined the emperor's reputation, but also created this unprecedented panic that made people laugh and cry. In view of the fact that the collection objects were limited to unmarried women, the people immediately came up with countermeasures. No matter what, they must first find one to stand up to. At this point, education, diplomas, appearance, and family background are not important, as long as they are men. So the happy time for the old bachelors has arrived. They couldn’t find a wife at first, but they suddenly became a hot product, which was quickly sold out, and some wives were also robbed, but this is not a big problem. allowed by the state. And those romantic talents who are famous on weekdays are in trouble now. Because of their reputation, they immediately became the targets of snatching by many families. It is said that a scholar surnamed Jin was arrested by three families at the same time, and finally snatched back by a large family. Well, he himself has a bit of backbone, and escaped by climbing the wall when no one was prepared, but he was snatched back by another family not long after he landed. I believe that for this scene, many gay men are unable to come and yearn for it, but please forgive me, this scene will never happen today. The latest data shows that the ratio of male to female has reached 117:100. According to this ratio Among the more than 100 people, 17 gentlemen are destined to be bachelors to the end. It is said that this ratio will be further increased. I believe that in the near future, those who marry their wives will be able to proudly pat their chests and shout God bless, Amitabha. Finally, I would like to warn everyone that if this method of robbing people on the street is used in modern times, it may not be feasible, because in today's streets, robbing people based on their appearance can only guarantee that you are robbing people. But not necessarily a man.If you're lucky, you might even snag a few Supergirls. In any case, Yangzhou is completely in chaos. If the situation continues to get out of control, catastrophe will happen. Fortunately, Yangzhou still has a magistrate named Jiang Yao. The prefect of Jiang was usually kind to others, but when things got to this point, he couldn't get ahead. He ran to Wu Jing, hoping that it would be enough for him to make a fortune, and stop as soon as possible. Where did Wu Jing put this magistrate in his eyes, and just replied casually: "If you dare to disobey, I will kill you!" Jiang Zhifu said good things for a long time, but when he got this one reply, he was so angry that he fought it out: "Tell you as soon as possible, I deserve to die for my disobedience, but the people are the people of the court. If you force them to rebel, you will be held accountable at that time, and you will not be able to escape!" After Wu Jing figured it out, that was the case, so he became more honest, and the situation was finally under control. If you say that this Jiang Zhifu is really a tough guy, after such a toss, he has completely thought about it. He is nothing more than dying, and he dare not say anything. He made up his mind to let Zhu Houzhao go away as soon as possible. Zhu Houzhao really came, but his old man was relatively honest, just went fishing by the lake with a fishing rod.Jiang Zhifu was also accompanying him. At this time, Jiang Bin had already received a report from Wu Jing, saying that Jiang Yao was preventing them from making a fortune.So Jiang Bin was going to make things difficult for the magistrate. Just at this time, Zhu Houzhao caught a big fish. According to the old tradition, he jokingly said: "This fish can be sold for five hundred gold!" Jiang Bin heard it from the side, and immediately said: "Prefect Jiang, you can just buy this fish." This was obviously a scam, but unexpectedly, Jiang Yao agreed. Not only did he agree, but he rushed home immediately to get the money. Not long after, Jiang Yao came back with some jewelry and a pile of clothes. Zhu Houzhao was surprised: "What are you doing?" Jiang Yao raised her head and said loudly: "There is no money in the treasury! All I have is these things." Jiang Bin turned pale with fright, but Zhu Houzhao did not get angry. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then laughed, and threw the fish to Jiang Yao: "You go, this fish is for you." The matter has come to an end here, but Jiang Zhifu can be said to have erupted suddenly from an extinct volcano for many years, and it was out of control. He made up his mind that even if he died, he would send Zhu Houzhao, the Buddha, out of Yangzhou. Soon after, Zhu Houzhao sent someone to ask him for a local specialty—Qinghua. Mr. Jiang Yao replied in this way: "There used to be Qionghua, but since Song Huizong went hunting in the north, this flower has become extinct, so there is no flower for His Majesty." This is a very harsh sentence. As I said before, the so-called hunting in the north is called Beishou, which means to be a captive. This is a blatant comparison of Mr. Zhu Houzhao to a subjugated king. The person who sent the message was dumbfounded in fright, and remained motionless for a long time. Jiang Yao immediately shouted: "What are you doing in a daze, just go back as I said, and I will take care of anything!" However, to everyone's surprise, nothing happened. Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao just sighed, smiled, and expressed his opinion easily: "That's it, let's get out of here." In this struggle between the emperor and the civil servants, the persistent Jiang Yao won, and he was going to send off Mr. Zhu Houzhao to leave the border early. But Mr. Zhu Houzhao is always unexpected. When he was about to leave Yangzhou, he found Jiang Yao and told him straightforwardly: I can't come for nothing. Anyway, you have to buy me some local specialties. This is the legendary dark, authoritarian, terrifying and dictatorial emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who asked for things in such a humble manner, which really reflected his "dictatorship" essence. Zhu Houzhao's attitude is surprising, but even more unexpected things are yet to come. For the emperor's request, Jiang Yao only answered one sentence: "There are no local products in Yangzhou." Regarding this, Zhu Houzhao smiled bitterly again, but it seemed unseemly for the emperor to open the way empty-handed. In desperation, he insisted on asking for 500 bolts of ramie cloth, which can be regarded as earning some face. Jiang Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't like Zhu Houzhao, basic etiquette was still required. People were about to leave, so it was fun. So he ordered his subordinates to set up a banquet and invited Zhu Houzhao to dinner as a farewell to the emperor. But what happened at the banquet made the magistrate unforgettable for life. Zhu Houzhao accepted the invitation solemnly, and waved to the officials. Everyone was about to listen to his instructions, but this man suddenly turned his face: "What are you doing with so many banquets? I can't even eat them. Are you so wasteful?" Jiang Yao below pinched his face, he was afraid that he was dreaming, why did Zhu Houzhao change his personality overnight, and became a model of diligence and thrift in housekeeping? But His Excellency the Emperor seemed to get more and more angry, and said: "I won't eat!" Watching the emperor get angry, the officials were at a loss, and the atmosphere on the scene was very embarrassing.But don't worry, Mr. Zhu Houzhao hasn't finished his sentence yet. Before the officials could react, Zhu Houzhao changed his smiling face again, and added the second half of the sentence just now: "Just fold these banquets into silver taels and give them to me." The scene immediately fell into silence, an extreme silence. What's the matter?If you can't eat it, you can just take it away, and you still want to cash it? This brother is really affordable! Looking at the officials who were in a daze, Zhu Houzhao was proud, he laughed presumptuously, and walked away. His Majesty the Emperor is naturally not short of money, not to mention the money for these banquets. The reason why he did this is very simple-this is a very interesting thing. Entertaining hundreds of officials is a lot of fun! In December Bingchen, the fourteenth year of Zhengde (1519), Zhu Houzhao finally arrived in Nanjing. So far, starting from Beijing in August and traveling all the way, Zhu Houzhao finally reached the end of his trip in four full months. Here, he will encounter the biggest crisis in his life. When Zhu Houzhao stepped into Nanjing triumphantly, Jiang Bin beside him was also shrouded in excitement. But the reason for his excitement is completely different from that of Mr. Zhu Houzhao. After long-term planning and preparation, his plan has been completed and is about to enter the implementation stage, and the best place for implementation is Nanjing. But before that, he had to deal with a serious problem-Wang Shouren. But Mr. Wang Shouren was too difficult to deal with, so this time he designed an extremely vicious trap and instructed Zhang Zhong to carry it out. Not long after, when Zhang Zhong was wandering in front of Zhu Houzhao, he suddenly sighed inadvertently: "Wang Shouren is really not a loyal minister." Zhu Houzhao asked him why. "He has been in the Zhili (South) Jiangxi area now, and he has not come to see His Majesty for so long. He is really defiant. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can summon him. This person will definitely not come!" It sounded like an interesting thing, so Zhu Houzhao decided to give it a try. The reason why Jiang Bin was sure that Wang Shouren would not answer the call roughly contained the principle of "the wolf is coming". In the past, Jiang Bin often pretended to be Zhu Houzhao's name to make things happen. Everyone knew it, but Wang Shouren had a deep conflict with him, and he was afraid of being deceived and came to die.And with Mr. Wang's character, he would never have thought that the decree this time was really issued by His Majesty the Emperor. Governor Wang, stay at ease, you are guilty of contempt for the emperor! But it didn't take long before he was stunned again, because someone told him that Wang Shouren had arrived in Wuhu and was about to meet the emperor. If you are asked to come, you will not come, if you are not allowed to come, you will come instead!Jiang Bin wanted to hit the wall. This was naturally thanks to Mr. Zhang Yong. He notified Wang Shouren in time and asked him to travel day and night. He rushed over quickly and gave Jiang Bin a blow. The so-called someone in the DPRK is good at handling things is really not empty talk. Zhu Houzhao also knew that Wang Shouren had arrived, and he really wanted to meet this legendary figure, but now Jiang Bin and Zhang Zhong were in a hurry. Wang Shouren had had enough. He knew that Jiang Bin would continue to punish him. This cat-and-mouse game would hardly end. In order to teach Jiang Bin a lesson, he prepared to fight back. One day later, Zhang Zhong rushed to find Jiang Bin suddenly and told him a surprising news: "Wang Shouren is gone!" I was at a loss again. "Where did he go?" "I sent someone to look for it, but I couldn't find it anywhere." Damn it, I won't be able to become a fairy. When I saw him, I thought he was an eyesore, and I was upset; when I couldn't see him, I was afraid that he was plotting, and I was flustered. "Go and find him for me!" Jiang Bin's spirit was about to collapse. Wang Shouren didn't become a fairy, so he took off his official clothes, put on casual clothes, and went to Mount Jiuhua. On the way, he said to everyone he met that he had disregarded the world and didn't want to fight for fame and fortune, and was going to become a Taoist priest in the mountains. For the rest of my life. Governor Wang wants to be a Taoist priest!This sensational news spread all over the streets and alleys immediately. Zhang never lost the opportunity to find Zhu Houzhao and told him that Wang Shouren put down the rebellion, but he didn't want to be an official. . Zhu Houzhao was moved. He found Jiang Bin and scolded him severely, telling him to be more honest and stop messing around again. Then he ordered Wang Shouren not to be a Taoist priest anymore, but to continue to come back to be his official. So Taoist Wang ate fast in the mountains for a few days, cleared his stomach, and made another glorious comeback. Jiang Bin decided to give up, because he finally realized that Mr. Wang Shouren was a terrible opponent, and he could never be defeated. And more importantly, he will soon do something earth-shattering. If he is not careful, his head will fall to the ground. He must concentrate all his energy and go all out. In January of the fifteenth year of Zhengde (1520), the operation officially began. As usual, Qiao Yu, Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing, convened a meeting of officials of the Ministry of War to discuss the recent defense situation. Although Nanjing is also a capital city, there are six central teams such as the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but they are in name only. Hideouts for retired officials. But the Ministry of War is an exception. The Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing, also known as Nanjing Garrison, holds military power and is responsible for the defense of the Southern Zhili area. It is an extremely important position. Therefore, although the regular meetings of other departments often have tea parties and chatting meetings, the atmosphere of the regular meetings of the Ministry of War is very tense, but any abnormal situation must be reported in time, otherwise it will be overwhelmed. The meeting went smoothly. After the briefing and situation analysis, Qiao Yu officially announced the adjournment of the meeting. Just when he was about to leave, he saw a thousand households winking at him. Qiao Yu kept his composure and stayed there. When the crowd dispersed, the Qianhu came up to him and told him a very strange thing——Jiang Bin once sent someone to find the gatekeeper, wanting to claim the city The key to the door. Qiao Yu was stunned at the time, he knew the significance of this move very well. The gates of the city are opened during the day and closed at night. If there is an emergency to open the gate, the personnel on duty of the Ministry of War must be notified and permission can be opened.The strange thing about this matter is that if the emperor wants to open the door, he will naturally order to open the door, and Jiang Bin is the emperor's confidant, and he stays with the emperor day and night, what is the key for? The answer is simple: what he wants to do will never be approved by the emperor. Qiao Yu shuddered, he had roughly estimated the seriousness of the matter. "Go and tell the gatekeeper that from now on, all city gate keys will be taken back to the headquarters of the Ministry of War for safekeeping. Without my permission, no one is allowed to borrow them, and anyone who violates the order will be executed immediately!" "What if Commander Jiang (Jiang Bin is the commander of Jinyiwei) insists?" "Let him come to me!" Jiang Bin soon learned of the news that Qiao Yu was unwilling to cooperate, and he was furious. Although Qiao Yu was the secretary of the Ministry of War and a dignified ministerial-level senior official, he didn't take it seriously. Jiang Bin's arrogance is well-founded. Not only did he succeed Qian Ning as the commander of Jinyiwei, but he was also appointed to take charge of the East Factory.But the reason why he dared to be so arrogant was because of a title he had once obtained - Mighty Deputy General. This is a title that cannot be found in previous history books. It belongs to a personal invention and creation. The inventor is the mighty general Zhu Shou. Of course, this Zhu Shou is Comrade Zhu Houzhao himself. Zhu Houzhao is the top leader and he is the second leader. It is strange that he is not arrogant. But when Jiang Bin approached Qiao Yu aggressively, he unexpectedly found that Qiao Yu seemed to be even more arrogant than him. No matter what he said, Qiao Yu only said one word: No borrowing. Whether it is persuasion or temptation, it is completely useless.Jiang Bin had no choice but to threaten Qiao Yu viciously, implying that he would sue the emperor for crimes. However, Qiao Yu told him bluntly: You go and see what you can do! Jiang Bin is not a brainless person. Qiao Yu, a veteran in the officialdom, is not afraid of him and is so tough. There must be something wrong with him. He endured it, and sent a special agent to monitor and investigate Qiao Yu when he returned home. The result surprised him, and he was very grateful. It turned out that this Qiao Yu not only had a good relationship with many senior officials in the court, but also had a personal relationship with Zhang Yong. Zhang Yong often visited him. Drop by at home. And Qiao Shangshu's resume perfectly explained all this - his teacher was Yang Yiqing. Jiang Bin found that Qiao Yu was right. He really couldn't do anything to this person. He didn't want to offend Zhang Yong, let alone Yang Yiqing. Liu Jin's example was ahead, and he wanted to live a few more years. Obviously, this path is dead, and other methods must be used. Jiang Bin's judgment was very accurate. Zhang Yong was indeed closely related to Qiao Yu, but he didn't know that while he was investigating Qiao Yu, Zhang Yong's eyeliner was also watching him. According to various signs, Zhang Yong and Qiao Yu have already confirmed that Jiang Bin has an attempt to rebel.But this person's actions are changeable, and the time and method are unknown, so they can only wait quietly.