Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Orthodoxy

In the first year of Apocalypse (1620), Lu Shou, the eunuch in charge of the supervisor of ceremonies, was dismissed for committing a crime. At that time, although Lu Shou had a high status, he was not very powerful, so this matter was not very eye-catching. Wang An fell into this inconspicuous matter. As mentioned earlier, among the eunuchs, the most outstanding ones are the eunuchs who are responsible for ceremonies, including one eunuch who holds the palm seal and several eunuchs who hold the pen. As the top leader of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, according to the usual practice, if the position is vacant, the eunuch Bingbi should take over.At that time, it was Wang An who took over.

It must be explained that although Wang An was always the actual leader of the eunuch, he was not the eunuch who took the seal, and no one knows the specific reason.It may be that this man knows that the gun can shoot the head, so he can't die, and he wants to find someone to top the tank. But this time it was different. After Lu Shou's accident, he was the only one with the most qualifications, so he had to do it himself. But Wei Zhongxian didn't want him to do it, because this position was too important. If Wang An was to be seated, he would have to stand out, and he would have to wait for the next life.

But the fact is that raw rice has been made into cooked rice, and Wei Zhongxian has nothing to do. Wang An also thought so, he took care of everything and accepted the appointment.According to the past practice, I wrote a letter to the emperor.The main meaning is nothing more than saying that I am incapable and incompetent, and I hope the emperor can find someone else. It seems hypocritical to write these after accepting the appointment, but there is no way to do it. In our place with a glorious tradition, success cannot be complacent, and complacency cannot be seen by others. A few days later, he got a reply from the emperor: agree, change.

Wang An entered the palace since he was a child, and worked from emptying the toilet to working as a supervisor of rituals. He has always been a realist and never believed in any myths.But this time, he saw the myth with his own eyes. Writing this memorandum is nothing more than being polite to the emperor, and the emperor is also being polite, and then what to do, it is really unexpected to come so suddenly. But what was even more surprising was that not long after, he was ordered to retire and was completely kicked out of the court.And Zhu Youxiao, whom he held up with his own hands, didn't respond at all.

Wei Zhongxian is indeed a very smart person. After thinking hard, he finally found this opportunity that is not an opportunity: I approve it if you want to leave, it is really natural. But the prerequisite for this idea is that the emperor must approve it, which is difficult.Because although the emperor likes to be a carpenter and has no culture, but he really needs a reason for him to cheat the prince who praised him. Wei Zhongxian helped him find the reason: Hakka. The wet nurse, the nanny, and the possibility of having an affair. With such a relationship, it should be enough for him to get rid of the prince.

Wang An lost his official position and withdrew from the political arena, leaving miserably.Only then did he understand that decades of ups and downs in the officialdom, intrigues and schemes, and the meritorious service of supporting two emperors are not worth a nanny. Frustrated, he planned to go back to retire, but failed.Because a person who made up his mind to cut grass and roots was not Wei Zhongxian. Someone once asked me, among those who killed Yue Fei, who was the worst? I replied without thinking, of course it was Qin Hui. So the man smiled and said to me with a look of beating up, no, it was Qin Hui's wife.

I thought about it and said to him: You are right. I remembered the record that I read back then. Qin Hui wanted to kill Yue Fei, but he couldn't make up his mind whether to do it or not. So his wife, Li Qingzhao's cousin Wang, told him that he must do it, he must do it, and he must do it. He did it. Wei Zhongxian's situation is roughly the same. Although this man does not recognize his friends, he still recognizes his leader. After thinking about it, he said to his wife, Hakka, forget it. Then, Keshi said the following words to him: "When the palace was moved, the news was passed on to the outside world, saying that Wang An was the one who held the prince hostage by Li Xuanshi; Wang An was the one who came to snatch the prince and took the prince away from the Donglin Party; It's still Wang An. This person must be killed!"

When she said this, her expression was very serious and her attitude was very serious. Women are more cruel than men, believe me. Wei Zhongxian followed his wife's instructions, and he decided to kill Wang An. This matter is very difficult, the emperor is more kind than Wei Zhongxian, although he does not use Wang An, he will never order to kill him. But with Wei Zhongxian, it's not difficult.Because it was his confidant Wang Tiqian who succeeded Wang An as the eunuch who was the supervisor of ceremonies, and he himself was the eunuch who was the supervisor of ceremonies Bingbi and the eunuch who was the admiral of the East Factory. Being a carpenter doesn't matter too much.

Soon, Wang An had an accident while doing hard labor, and died suddenly at night. Later, he reported a natural death, and it was over. So far, through unremitting shamelessness and despicableness, Wei Zhongxian finally grasped the control of Dongchang and became the biggest secret agent.The emperor's official correspondence must go through his review before it can be passed, at least it is a word of speech. However, every time an official document was delivered, he did not read it because he could not read. On the point of being illiterate, Wei Zhongxian admitted his account and was honest, but he did not delay the important affairs of the country because of this. He always took official documents home and studied them for his dog-headed military divisions. , to make the best use of everything.

After more than 30 years in the palace, Wei Zhongxian finally reached the peak of his life. But not the pinnacle. It defeated the Wei Dynasty, got rid of Wang An, and got rid of the emperor, but this is not enough. If you want to become the real ruler of this country, you must face the next and last enemy-the Donglin Party. Soon after becoming the admiral and eunuch of Dongchang, Wei Zhongxian launched an attack on the Donglin Party after careful consideration and careful preparation. Specific actions include sending people to contact important figures of the Donglin Party, including Liu Yijing, Zhou Jiamo, Yang Lian and others, saying that he has just come up, and he hopes to take care of many things, and has sent gifts many times.

In addition, he also praised certain cadres of the Donglin Party in public, and his excitement was beyond words. What is even more touching is that he spoke in front of the emperor many times, saying that Zhao Nanxing of the Donglin Party is a rare talent in the country, hardworking and conscientious, and trustworthy. Excluding force majeure factors such as amnesia in a car accident, accidental stroke, etc., the possibility of Wei Zhongxian suddenly getting better is roughly 0%, so the conclusion is that these actions are all disguises.Behind the illusion, there are hidden secrets. The ulterior secret is: Wei Zhongxian wants to be friends with the Donglin Party. It is necessary to state again that I did not write this sentence wrongly. In fact, the history of our country has always been complicated.The so-called you have me, I have you, make do with what you can, and fool with you.Looking back upwards, the only ones who are truly persistent and never give up are the cavemen on the top of the mountain. Wei Zhongxian is no exception. Although he is illiterate, he is very sensible. He knew very well that not only did the Donglin Party members hold great power, but they were also scholars. In fact, holding great power was not scary, but nerds were. Since ancient times, scholars have been roughly divided into two types, one is called literati and the other is called scholar.The literati are "the literati look down on each other", and the specific characteristics are relatively shameless and low self-esteem.Hello, he said it was bad; you can do it, he just said no; he is timid, usually swearing, but when he meets the serious one, he shrinks his head back, which is really quite nonsense. The main characteristic of a scholar is "scholarly spirit", which is manifested as two poles plus one tendon.Good is good, bad is not good, admit death, don't cause trouble at ordinary times, and don't be afraid of death when trouble comes.Dare to risk your life at the critical moment, the frail scholar turns into a steel warrior, no need to find a phone booth, no need to change clothes, just blink. The scholars back then were relatively reliable, so in the Donglin Party, there were both types of people, the latter accounted for the vast majority, and the image spokesperson was Yang Lian. This kind of brainless person who dares to act recklessly is really a natural nemesis for Wei Zhongxian, a scoundrel who acts according to circumstances and bullies the weak and fears the hard. So Wei Zhongxian wanted to curry favor with the Donglin Party in vain. He really didn't want to offend these people.In this world, it’s not easy for everyone. I don’t want to be an emperor. At most, I’m a successful eunuch. You guys had a good time working with Wang An before. Now that I’m here, it’s just a different person. What’s the difference? Regarding Wei Zhongxian's kindness, the Donglin Party's reaction was as follows: all presents that came to the door were returned, and those who came to visit were driven away. The one who didn't give face the most was Zhao Nanxing. Among the members of the Donglin Party, Wei Zhongxian liked Zhao Nanxing the most, because Zhao Nanxing and him were fellow villagers, and they were easy to get on the road, so he met him many times. But fellow Zhao not only didn't appreciate it, he refused to meet him.Once, in front of many people, he said this sentence in response to Wei's actions: Everyone should work hard to do good. In connection with the context, the implicit meaning of this sentence is that each of them can do their own thing well, don't be distracted, and don't bother me if you have nothing to do. Wei Zhongxian didn't understand, Wang An, you all can cooperate, why don't you cooperate with me? In fact, the reason why the Donglin Party refused to cooperate with Wei Zhongxian was not because Wei Zhongxian was illiterate, not because he was a scoundrel, but because he was not Wang An. There is no way, scholars are all dead.Although in terms of essence and physical structure, there is really no difference between Wang An and Wei Zhongxian. They are both eunuchs, supervisors of rites, and both manage official documents. They despise Wei Zhongxian, a scoundrel-born social trash with despicable behavior. It should be said that this kind of thinking is worthy of respect and admiration, but it is absolutely wrong. Because they don't know that the highest skill in politics is not fighting to the death, but compromise. Wei Zhongxian was angry, and his anger was justified, not only because the Donglin Party refused to cooperate, but more importantly, he felt that he was despised. There are many types of people in this world. Wei Zhongxian belongs to the Jianghu category. This kind of people has been in the society since childhood, and has a lot of friends. They don’t need their wives or daughters.The contempt of the Donglin Party greatly shocked his filthy heart. After learning from the pain, he repented and made a decision resolutely: Since you don't give face, then tear it up! But Eunuch Wei soon discovered that it was not easy at all to tear his face apart. Because he is illiterate. To deal with Wei Chao and Wang An, one only needs to be ruthless and black-hearted, but the Donglin Party is different. These people are all intellectuals, at least Jinshi, who are good at court struggles, which happens to be Wei Gonggong's weakness. Fighting in the imperial court, using knives and guns is not acceptable. Generally speaking, it is a battle of swearing and writing. The technical content is quite high. I often use allusions and idioms to ensure that your ancestors will be scolded without a single dirty word. Eunuch Wei, who can't read any words As far as he is concerned, it is a bit difficult for him to do this job. In order to adapt to the struggle in the new situation, so as not to be scolded to death and still laughing, Eunuch Wei decided to find some assistants, commonly known as lackeys. The two most important running dogs who joined first were Gu Bingqian and Wei Guangwei. Gu Bingqian, Jinshi in the 23rd year of Wanli (1595), bad guy. This person was born in Hanlin, he was knowledgeable, he was shameless, he was so shameless that Wei Zhongxian didn't look for him, so he went to the door by himself. At that time, his position was Minister of Rites, and he was seventy-one years old. It is said that he should retire after working for a few years, but this grandson is not old-hearted, and he wanted to go further. The minister looked down on him, so he simply voted for eunuch. It doesn't matter if you change your family. The most shameless thing about this man is that he has done something like this: Once, in order to get promoted, Mr. Gu Bingqian took his son to visit Wei Zhongxian regardless of his seventy years of age, and said something like this: "I hope to recognize you as your father, but I am afraid that you will think that I am too old and unwilling, so let my son be your grandson!" Gu Bingqian was born in the 29th year of Jiajing (1550), and Wei Zhongxian was born in the 2nd year of Longqing (1568).Gu Bingqian is eighteen years older than Wei Zhongxian. Shameless and speechless. Wei Guangwei, Jinshi in the 32nd year of Wanli (1604), can be good or bad. Wei Guangwei's father is called Wei Yunzhen, and Wei Yunzhen has a best friend named Zhao Nanxing. During the Wanli period, Wei Yunzhen worked as a servant.He and Zhao Nanxing have a very good relationship. The two had acquaintances eight times. In today's terms, they are brothers who have worshiped each other. Wei Guangwei's official career went relatively smoothly. He passed the imperial examination and was promoted step by step. During the reign of Tianqi, he became the Minister of Rites. Ordinarily, this speed is not too slow, but Mr. Wei is a very self-motivated person. In order to achieve leapfrog development, he found Wei Zhongxian. Eunuch Wei naturally wanted what he wanted, and after only two years, he was promoted from deputy minister to minister, and allowed him to enter the cabinet and become a bachelor. What is commendable is that Comrade Wei Guangwei has new friends, and he does not forget old ones.After taking office, the first thing he did was to visit Zhao Nanxing, his father's old comrade-in-arms. But Zhao Nanxing didn't see him, and at the same time told him to leave, he gave him four words: "See spring without children!" Wei Yunzhen, the father of Wei Guangwei, was born in Jianquan. This is a very vicious sentence. If you say that my father has no son, then what am I? Wei Guangwei was very angry. Out of anger, he came to the door for the second time and asked to see Zhao Nanxing. Zhao Nanxing still didn't see him. Next, Wei Guangwei made an unexpected move, he went again. Mr. Wei is worthy of being a descendant of a famous family, and he has a good self-cultivation. Back then, Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang to go out to work for his life, and it was only three times. But Zhao Nanxing still refused to see him. Facing the closed door, Wei Guangwei was furious, and vowed that he and Zhao Nanxing were incompatible. The reason why Wei Guangwei was angry was whether he could see each other or not. The key was that Zhao Nanxing broke the rules. At that time, Zhao Nanxing was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials and the head of the Ministry of Personnel, while Wei Guangwei was the Minister of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of Dongge University.Although both of them are ministers, Wei Guangwei is a member of the cabinet, equivalent to the deputy prime minister. According to the rules, Minister Zhao has to ask him to lead. But Wei Dashi didn't care about it, he went to the door in person, and returned three times, but you didn't see him, it was a bit shameful. In this way, this good or bad person, with Zhao Nanxing's selfless help, turned into a completely bad person. In addition to these two people, Wei Zhongxian has many followers, such as Feng Quan, Shi Fenglai, Cui Chengxiu, Xu Xianchun, etc., and later generations are collectively referred to as: Five Tigers, Five Biao, Ten Dogs, and Ten Babies. Already thirty. This is still pediatrics. Eunuch Wei's subordinates also have twenty children, forty monkey grandchildren, and five hundred righteous grandchildren. As an eunuch, he is really blessed to have so many sons and grandchildren. I had planned to help these descendants of the eunuchs make an appearance, make a brief introduction, and at least list their names, but when I saw words like "five hundred grandsons", I immediately lost my courage. In fact, the Donglin Party is also very good at pulling mountains and building groups.But compared with Eunuch Wei, it's much worse. Because the Donglin Party has relatively high entry standards and limited channels: either a fellow township (Xiangdang), a colleague (scholar of the same subject), or a seat master (teacher-student relationship), except for a few people with special skills (such as Wang Wenyan), Must be a high-level intellectual (Jinshi or Hanlin), and must be clean and have no criminal record (corruption and bribery). But Eunuch Wei is much more open. He is a rogue, illiterate, and part-time human trafficker (sold his daughter). It is more difficult to find someone with lower quality than him. So when he recruited people, he paid great attention to unity.The so-called heroes don’t ask where they come from, they don’t care about their origins, they don’t care if they are cats or dogs, as long as they can work, the people under him are also quite knowledgeable, and they use “tiger”, “big”, “dog” and “monkey” to call themselves “tiger”, “monkey”, etc. No matter what beast it is, it's not human anyway. The composition of this group of demons and ghosts is very complicated, including eunuchs, secret agents, officials of the six ministries, local officials, and military generals, involving various classes and industries, and a hundred flowers blossom. Although they come from different fields, they have one thing in common: they are all scumbags who have been carefully selected and have extremely high purity. For example, the four brothers mentioned above are very representative: Cui Chengxiu, originally a corrupt criminal, took money from other people, was reported and lost his official position, and then defected to Wei Gonggong. Shi Fenglai has been in the imperial court for more than ten years and has no ability to work. His only advantage is writing inscriptions for others. Xu Xianchun, born as a Wu Jinshi, the leader of Jinyiwei, was extremely cruel, he liked to extract confessions by torture, and had a unique habit: after killing a prisoner, pick out his throat bone as evidence or as a souvenir. But relatively speaking, the above three are not enough. In terms of the level of a bastard, Mr. Feng Quan is still superior. This man started his career from corruption, and took the initiative to take on the task of framing Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others, lest he did not do enough bad things. What is even more amazing is that later this man voluntarily surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and became an unknown traitor. In a short life, he was able to integrate corrupt officials, eunuchs, and traitors into one body. He is so shameless and inhuman. To say he is a beast is really an insult to the beast. To sum up, Wei Zhongxian's group of people have the following characteristics in their work and life: Do everything, just don't do good things, want everything, just shameless. In fact, most of the eunuchs were once members of the three parties. Before they completely sold their souls and bodies, joined this warm group, and became shameless beasts, they were also human beings. Many years ago, when they first stepped into the imperial court, they all had good conduct and full of ideals, determined to support the country with their lives, help the world, treat everyone fairly, be cautious in words and deeds, and eventually become a great man with a long history. But they fell in the end. In the face of cruel struggles, the tempering of official careers, and the failure of party struggles, they lost their last courage and dignity, and finally succumbed to the money, power, and interests within their reach. Wei Zhongxian understands that it is absolutely impossible for the Donglin Party, who insists on ideals, to cooperate with him. If they want to continue eating and drinking, they must get rid of these people. Now, he is ready to show his cards. But if you want to provoke something, you have to have a reason. The Donglin Party members are all Mr. Morality, and they don't take much money. It is quite difficult to find fault with them. After much consideration, Wei Zhongxian found a seemingly perfect breakthrough——Wang Wenyan. As the think tank of the Donglin Party, Wang Wenyan played an extremely crucial role, pushing left and right to flicker back and forth, supported the emperor, brought down the three parties, and was nicknamed "the best commoner in the world". But in Wei Zhongxian's view, this commoner has a weakness: he has no fame, cannot be an official, and can only be regarded as an underground party.Attacking this person will not be too conspicuous, but it can also break down the pillars of the Donglin Party. It really kills two birds with one stone. Therefore, after Wang An's death, Wei Zhongxian immediately ordered Shao Fuzhong, the Prime Minister of Shuntian Mansion, to impeach Wang Wenyan. It is relatively easy to rectify Wang Wenyan.This person is an old fritter, besides the Donglin Party, he is also very familiar with the three parties.Later, the three parties collapsed, and he had a very strong relationship with many people in the eunuch party. He often went back and forth, collecting money from people, and eliminating disasters for others. His foundation was really unclean. More importantly, his old club, Wang An, has collapsed, and his backer is gone, so it is easy to clean up. As expected, Wang Wenyan fell down at the first blow, his title of supervisor was confiscated, and he was ordered to pack up his bags and leave immediately. Wang Wenyan was quite obedient, didn't make trouble, and left obediently, but before he had gone far, another person from the capital came and invited him back halfway—to jail. It was not enough to drive away Wang Wenyan. Wei Zhongxian hoped that he could beat this mysterious and powerful man to death with a single stick, so he ordered Yushi to flick Mr. Wang a second time and put him directly into the cell. Wei Zhongxian is finally satisfied, the operation is going extremely smoothly, Wang Wenyan has become a prisoner, everything is ready, next... There is no more below. Because not long after, Wang Wenyan was released from prison. At this time, Wei Zhongxian was the admiral of the East Factory, the eunuch in charge, the supervisor of the ceremonies, and his party members spread all over the world, while Mr. Wang was a prisoner with no fame, no status, and no backing.Moreover, Eunuch Wei disliked Wang Wenyan very much, and wanted to knock him to the ground and step on another foot. This seemed to be a very easy task.After all, even Wang Wenyan's backstage Wang An died in the hands of Wei Zhongxian. In any case, he should not, cannot be released from prison. Yet he was out of prison. How he got out of prison, I don't know, anyway, he got out and successfully rescued himself, and Eunuch Wei didn't respond, what Wang An couldn't do, he did. Moreover, after this man was released from prison, his reputation became even greater. Zhao Nanxing, Zuo Guangdou, and Yang Lian all came to visit and express their condolences in person, and there was an endless stream of people coming to the door. To use a sentence in previous revolutionary movies: It is better to be in prison. up. What was even more unexpected was that Ye Xianggao, the chief assistant of the imperial court, took the initiative to find him soon after, and appointed him as the secretary of the cabinet. The so-called cabinet secretary is roughly equivalent to the director of the General Office of the State Council, which is an extremely important position.Mr. Wang Wenyan didn't even pass the Juren examination, but he got this position, which is really sensational. But for this appointment that seriously violated the rules, Eunuch Wei was so silent that he didn't say anything.Because he has realized that he does not have enough strength to defeat this supernatural person. Therefore, Wei Zhongxian stopped his actions. He knew that to break the current deadlock, he must continue to wait. In the following three years, quietly, he continued to crowd out the Donglin Party and install his cronies. More and more people turned to him, and his party members became larger and stronger, but he still Wait in silence. Because he has seen clearly that this seemingly powerful Donglin Party is actually very weak. The Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Zhao Nanxing, is not to be feared, and the Yushi Zuo Guangdou is not to be feared. The only one who is really strong is Wang Wenyan, who can't even pass the Juren examination, who is humble, but extremely witty, and cunning to the end. To solve the Donglin Party, he must get rid of this person, and there is no shortcut. This is a very risky thing, Wei Zhongxian does not like to take risks, so he chooses to wait. But the development of the matter exceeded everyone's expectations, including Wei Zhongxian. In the fourth year of Tianqi (1624), the official department wrote a letter to Ruan Dacheng, impeaching Wang Wenyan and Zuo Guangdou for colluding with each other and disrupting the government. The excitement started here, and the eunuchs joined in one after another, taking the opportunity to attack the Donglin Party, Zuo Guangdou, not to be outdone, participated in the debate, the court was full of saliva, Wang Wenyan was dismissed, and even the chief assistant Ye Xianggao also applied for resignation. . But the irony is that Wei Zhongxian may not have known about this matter in advance. The reason why this incident arose was nothing more than the fact that all the officials had been resigned from the matter, and the position was vacant. Ruan Dacheng wanted to make progress, so he started to move around to build relationships. However, the Donglin Party didn't like this. After Zhao Nanxing, the Minister of Personnel, heard about this, he simply told him to get out of the court, and he didn't even do anything about it.After Ruan Dacheng knew about it, he was very angry and decided to sue Zuo Guangdou for black crime. This is a sentence that seems to be inconsistent with the preface, Zhao Nanxing told him to go, what's the matter with Guan Zuo Guangdou? The reason is that Zuo Guangdou is a fellow of Ruan Dacheng, and it was Zuo Guangdou who promoted Ruan Dacheng when he came to Beijing.So now that he can't get promoted, he has to trouble Zuo Guangdou. It seems that this statement is still messy, but compared with the logic of "Because I was born in the land of Jingchu, so I am called Mengmeng", this kind of thinking is quite normal. Mr. Ruan Dacheng, whose logic is "pretty normal", is really a strange person.I can say a few more words.Later he joined the Eunuch Party, followed Wei Zhongxian, and ran to Nanjing after being a mess, and followed Nanming, and Nanming messed up, and he joined the Qing Dynasty again. In the Manchu military camp, he performed the most exciting and shameless performance in his life scene. As a traitor who surrendered, he has no shame, and he often talks to the generals of the Qing Dynasty.After talking during the day, I continued talking at night, and I couldn't stand it, so I said to him: You are so eloquent, but we will get up early tomorrow to fight, so let's go to bed early. Shortly thereafter, he died suddenly in the army because he ran too fast in his eagerness to grab credit. But at that time, Mr. Ruan Dacheng's black case of repaying virtue with resentment was just the fuse.What really made Eunuch Wei extremely angry and killed him was another thing.Another money, to be precise. In fact, although Eunuch Wei has always been at odds with the Donglin Party, there is only public anger and no personal enmity.But almost at the same time when Ruan Dacheng wrote the letter, Eunuch Wei got the news that one of his business had failed, and it was in the hands of the Donglin Party. The business was worth 40,000 taels of silver, and the person who did business with him was Xiong Tingbi. I hope everyone still remembers this brother. Since he returned to Beijing, he has been imprisoned for more than two years. Due to the seriousness of the case, from the emperor to the Ministry of Punishment, there is quite the same tendency to kill. At this point, the only thing left to do is to save himself. Xiong Tingbi began to take active actions, looking for someone to clear up the relationship, hoping to send some money to save this life. After seven turns and eight turns, he finally found a savior named Wang Wenyan. It is said that this person has great powers and is easy to catch. Wang Wenyan agreed, and started activities. He turned around and found a person who could do things——Wei Zhongxian. Of course, given that Comrade Wei Zhongxian hated him extremely, he did not show up when doing this, but instead hired someone to represent him. When Wei Zhongxian received the news, he readily agreed and offered a price - 40,000 taels, Xiong Tingbi would not die. Wang Wenyan was very happy, and immediately replied to Xiong Tingbi, telling him the good news and the amount of silver needed (probably not 40,000 taels, after all, the middleman also charges) With Wang Wenyan's temperament, the agency fee is certain, but the amount is not certain, but this time, he didn't get a penny.Because Xiong Tingbi couldn't afford 40,000 taels. If you can't get the money, things can't be done, and there's nothing to do. But Wei Zhongxian didn't know whether he was short of money or he was serious and responsible. When he found out that there was no news about this matter, he was surprised and sent someone to investigate.After seven rounds and eight rounds, he finally found out that the person who asked him to do things turned out to be Wang Wenyan! It's too much, it's too much, Wei Zhongxian felt the anger of Li Li: it's fine to fight against me, but he still entrusts me with errands and eats my agency fee! Wei Zhongxian, who couldn't get the money and was tricked by others, suddenly felt hatred for his country and family, and immediately sent someone to arrest Wang Wenyan. Wang Wenyan is in jail, but this is just the beginning. Wei Zhongxian's ultimate goal is to use him to drag the Donglin party members into the water. But it turns out once again that impulse is the devil.The impulsive Eunuch Wei was surprised to find that he had seen a ghost again. After Wang Wenyan was imprisoned, there was no progress in interrogation. Not to mention Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou, even Mr. Wang himself was living in prison. Moisturize. The reason why such a strange phenomenon appeared was that apart from Mr. Wang himself being particularly capable of fighting, the addition of another person also played a great role. The man's name was Huang Zunsu, and he was the supervisory censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate at that time. This is a very famous person, and many people know him, but he also has a more famous son——Huang Zongxi.If you don't even know Huang Zongxi, you should go home and read more books. In the Donglin Party, which is dominated by scholars, Huang Zunsu is an outlier.This person is far-sighted, thinks twice before acting, and is good at maneuvering. He is also known as the two major think tanks of the Donglin Party along with Wang Wenyan. After learning that Wang Wenyan was arrested, many Donglin party members were very angry, but they just complained. Only two people really responded, and one of them was Huang Zunsu. He keenly felt that Wei Zhongxian was about to make a move. Catching Wang Wenyan is just the beginning, and soon, the flames of war will extend to the Donglin Party.By then it will be too late. So, he found Jin Yiwei Liu Qiao overnight. Liu Qiao, then the commander of Jinyiwei Town Fusi, managed the prison, and Wang Wenyan was imprisoned on his site. This person's character is fairly decent, so Huang Zunsu made a special trip to find him to clear up the relationship. Huang Zunsu said that you should take care of people, but you must not involve other people, such as Zuo Guangdou, Yang Lian and so on. Liu Qiao agreed. Liu Qiao is a smart man, he understands what Huang Zunsu means.So he ordered the interrogation work according to this meaning, so Wang Wenyan was talking nonsense in the prison, and no one bothered him. And the other person who noticed Wei Zhongxian's plan was Ye Xianggao. After all, Ye Xianggao has seen the world. He has been in the court for decades, and he can understand it at a glance.Immediately wrote a letter stating that Wang Wenyan was appointed by himself. If there is a problem with this person, it is his own responsibility and has nothing to do with others. He is specially asked to retire and go home to take care of him. Ye Shoufu was worthy of being an old fox. He knew that the imperial court would not let him go, but he wanted to retreat to put pressure on Wei Zhongxian so that he could not act rashly. Seeing the opponent put on such a posture, Wei Zhongxian flinched. Too impulsive, the time has not yet come. In this round, the Donglin Party won a temporary victory, but will usher in permanent defeat. When Wang Wenyan was arrested, Wei Zhongxian was not sure of victory, but by May of the fourth year of Tianqi (1624), even the Donglin Party no longer doubted their doomed fate. Because Eunuch Wei is really good at pulling people. In a few years, the so-called "All Zheng Yingchao" has become "All Beasts Yingchao".The birds and beasts under Eunuch Wei have spread all over the court, Wang Tigan controls the Supervisor of Ceremonies, Gu Bingqian and Wei Guangwei enter the cabinet, Xu Xianchun and Tian Ergeng control Jinyiwei.Among the six ministries, only Zhao Nanxing, the head of the Ministry of Officials, is still struggling to support them. The rest of the ministries are full of eunuchs, and even the sixth department of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which is in charge of discipline inspection and supervision, has become the world of eunuchs. For this transformation, most of the explanations in the books are that the world is declining, people's hearts are not old, morality is degraded, quality is corrupted, and so on. In fact, the reason is very simple, just one sentence: reality. Wei Zhongxian can pull people because he is real. If you want someone to work hard for you, it won't work if you tell him with a bowl of plain rice that it's a long way to go, so eat more.After all, it's so far away, it's shameless, and it's hard to balance your mind if you don't have the shame to vote for a eunuch. In this regard, Eunuch Wei behaved very well, as long as anyone who defected to him asked for money, he would give him money, and if he wanted officials, he would give them real gold and silver, and no white papers. In comparison, the competitiveness of the Donglin Party is too low, and it is difficult to get in without giving anything, which is a bit too difficult. If someone asks you to choose the following two options: adhere to integrity, firm beliefs and ideals, live in obscurity, live in poverty, serve the country and the people, and work hard all your life. Or give up principles, lose conscience, lose decades of struggle, rise to the top, get promoted and get rich, eat and drink, and enjoy life for a lifetime. No need to answer, we all know the answer. A long time ago, I once watched a movie. In the movie, the boss of the underworld was admonishing his subordinates. He said that he had a dream last night, dreaming that there were no underworld in this world. Because everyone in this world has become a gangster. For Wei Zhongxian, this sentence is no longer a dream. He didn't ask about his background or character, and he gave the power of the court to everyone who was as despicable and shameless as him. And these people who rely on kneeling and kowtowing and think that their grandsons are in charge of power naturally have no idea of ​​​​benefiting the people. How can they be worthy of themselves if they don't humiliate the common people for the glory and wealth they have obtained through humiliation? Driven by such good wishes, some incredible things began to happen one after another.For example, there was a rich man in a certain county who killed someone in his spare time. The county magistrate enforced the law impartially and sentenced him to death.This man didn't want to die, so he found an eunuch official, hoping to buy his life with money. Soon he got a reply: ten thousand taels. The rich man agreed, and he also made another request: he hoped to kill the county magistrate who sentenced him to death, because the county magistrate was too fair and really displeased him. To say that the comrades of the eunuch party were honest, they released him immediately after collecting the money, and immediately fabricated the charges and killed the county magistrate. Innocent victims, upright seventh-rank magistrates, judiciary, and justice, all together, it is only ten thousand taels. In fact, the price tag is still on the high side. Later, in addition to making official wishes, Wei Zhongxian also developed a new business: selling officials!Some historical materials also tell us that the price of official positions at that time was clearly marked. It was roughly two or three thousand taels to buy a county magistrate, and five or six thousand taels was enough to buy a magistrate. From this point of view, the rich man who disregarded human life really didn't know how to settle accounts.Simply find Eunuch Wei, spend half of the money to buy a magistrate, directly become the superior of the county magistrate, find a reason to kill him, and save five thousand taels, a loss, a real loss. Since the opening of the dynasty, the darkest moment of Ming Dynasty has finally arrived! We can do whatever we want, and we can do whatever we want. In order to gain power and wealth, the dignity and price we pay must be double plundered from those who are weaker.Trample, bully, plunder, don't worry, don't think about it, we can do whatever we want! Because in this era, no one can stop us, no one dares to stop us! For several years, Yang Lian has been watching. He saw that eunuch who committed all kinds of crimes, robbed his friend's lover, killed his friend, and killed his boss, but he controlled the power of the world without paying for his life or retribution. That thing called Tianli doesn't seem to exist. He saw that an extremely powerful enemy had appeared in front of him. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a shortage of heavyweight villains, such as Liu Jin, such as Yan Song, but Liu Jin has read some books and knows that he must obey the rules and at least have a bottom line, so he knew that Li Dongyang was against him, so he didn't kill anyone .Although Yan Song killed Xia Yan, at least he treated his wife kindly. 而魏忠贤，是一个文盲，逼走老婆，卖掉女儿，他没原则，没底线，阴险狡诈，不择手段，已达到了无耻无极限的境界。他绝了后，也空了前。 当杨涟回过神来，他才发现，自己身边，已是空无一人，那些当年的敌人、甚至朋友、同僚都已抛弃良知，投入了这个人的怀抱。在利益的面前，良知实在太过脆弱。 但他依然留在原地，一动不动，因为他依然坚持着一样东西——道统。 所谓道统，是一种规则，一种秩序，是这个国家几千年来历经苦难挫折依旧前行的动力。 杨涟和道统已经认识很多年了。 小时候，道统告诉他，你要努力读书，研习圣人之道，将来报效国家。 当知县时，道统告诉他，你要为官清廉，不能贪污，不能拿不该拿的钱，要造福百姓。 京城，皇帝病危，野心家蠢蠢欲动，道统告诉他，国家危亡，你要挺身而出，即使你没有义务，没有帮手。 一直以来，杨涟对道统的话都深信不疑，他照做了，并获得了成功： 是你让我相信，一个普通的平民子弟，也能够通过自己的努力，坚持不懈，成就一番事业，成为千古留名的人物。 你让我相信，即使身居高位，尊容加身，也不应滥用自己的权力，去欺凌那些依旧弱小的人。 你让我相信，一个人活在这世上，不能只是为了自己。他应该清正廉洁，严于律己，坚守那条无数先贤走过的道路，继续走下去。 但是现在，我有一个疑问： 魏忠贤是一个不信道统的人，他无恶不作，肆无忌惮，没有任何原则，但他依然成为了胜利者，越来越多的人放弃了道统，投奔了他，只是因为他封官给钱，如同送白菜。 我的朋友越来越少，敌人越来越多，在这条道路上，我已是孤身一人。 道统说：是的，这条道路很艰苦，门槛高，规矩多，清廉自律，家徒四壁，还要立志为民请命，一生报效国家，实在太难。 那我为何还要继续走下去呢？ 因为这是一条正确的道路，几千年来，一直有人走在这条孤独的道路上，无论经过多少折磨，他们始终相信规则，相信每个人都有着自己的尊严和价值，相信这个世界上，存在着公理与正义，相信千年之下，正气必定长存。 是的，我明白了，现在轮到我了，我会坚守我的信念，我将对抗那个强大的敌人，战斗至最后一息，即使孤身一人。 好吧，杨涟，现在我来问你，最后一个问题： 为了你的道统，牺牲你的一切，可以吗？ Can.