The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 170 The king and his ministers harm each other

Wanli was furious, and Tian Yi hurriedly persuaded him in a low voice: "Your Majesty is the king of a country. His ministers reporting on national affairs and giving advice are all for your Majesty's benefit. Your Majesty should be happy. Why are you angry?"

Emperor Wanli hesitated: "They are all looking for trouble for me."

Tian Yi quickly persuaded: "There is no word of loyalty in it."

Emperor Wanli sighed, feeling aggrieved.

This year, due to a bad year and the courtiers' objections to his sending eunuchs to collect taxes, Wanli, who had various affairs and quarrels from the beginning to the end of the year, could not live in peace.

Apart from the fact that the eunuch was not recalled, this year he was actually much more diligent than in previous years, but he received more scolding.

It was useless for him to say that he was not feeling well, but the courtiers obviously did not believe him.

Wanli asked helplessly: "What should I do according to what Tian Daban said?"

Tian Yi smiled bitterly and said: "There are so many court discussions now. If the Holy Master doesn't give any reply, we slaves don't know what to do."

Because Wanli had issued too many memorials admonishing him to take back the eunuchs, he issued the words "In recent memorials, anyone who pays mining taxes will be thrown unconscious" in order to threaten the courtiers, but it directly had the opposite effect. The officials seemed to be manipulated by Wanli The emperor himself showed the way.

The officials suddenly became as if they had not completed their mission as long as they did not persuade the emperor to withdraw.

Tian Yi had no choice. If he didn't persuade Wanli to respond, he wouldn't be able to continue his job as the ceremonial supervisor and eunuch.

"Everything in the world is in the heart of the Holy One. It is always best to do it, whether it is more or less. As long as you do something, the people will also have peace and happiness."

Emperor Wanli smiled bitterly and said: "Why don't I want to be too ordinary, but these people are uncomfortable with me for nothing!"

Even so, Wanli still chose to compromise and could only open the memorial and continue reading.

Emperor Wanli knew that he would definitely not be able to get through this situation if he did not compromise a little. He had to read several memorials to summarize the opinions of the officials, and then select a few that were innocuous and implement them, so as to calm the anger of the whole court.

Emperor Wanli was ready to hold his nose and read on, but after reading two excerpts, his anger still reached his chest.

These memorials, which were the most prestigious in the imperial court, were also the most politically correct. They reduced his tax supervision system and his work in the past few years to nothing, and they distorted the facts in many places.

Emperor Wanli felt fine at first, but the more he looked at it, the more he couldn't sit still. He had the idea of ​​throwing away the memorial and reviewing it tomorrow.

At this moment, he patiently opened the booklet written by Fengyang Governor Li Sancai.

Li Sancai was the candidate strongly recommended by Gu Xiancheng and other Donglin Party members. Naturally, this memorial was very consistent with the political correctness of the government at this time. From the very beginning, it revealed a smell that Wanli did not like:

"Your Majesty loves pearls and jade, and the people also long for food and clothing; your Majesty loves your children and grandchildren, and the people also love their wives and children. However, you worship collecting money and bribes, so that the small people have no peace of mind day and night!"

What does "Your Majesty loves pearls and jade, and the people also want food and clothing"? It seems that because he sent eunuchs to collect taxes, the people did not have enough to eat.

Emperor Wanli knew very well that although he collected a lot of tax revenue, it was far less than the amount of official tax paid by the imperial court, and even less than the amount of corruption among local local officials.

This is how Wanli calculated the accounts in his mind. The official taxes paid by the people were mostly taken by the court, and the official tax was taken by the corrupt officials. He was the emperor and could only send eunuchs to slip through the cracks. As a result, the people were all starved. Put it on him.

In terms of argumentative writing techniques, Li Sancai's comparison was completely forced.

And "Your Majesty loves his children and grandchildren, and the people also love their wives and children" is even more irritating. Wanli felt that whether he could establish a prince or not was entirely a family matter. It was already annoying that officials used it to hype up a major event like fighting for the country's capital. , and he was already ready to compromise, but these officials still refused to let go.

This analogy is even more forceful. What does the humiliation of the people's wives and children have to do with who he appoints as the crown prince?

Seeing this, Emperor Wanli no longer wanted to read anymore, but he knew that Li Sancai's memorial had been quite popular in the court recently. Looking at Tian Yi's eyes below, Wanli could only grit his teeth and continue reading.

Later, Li Sancai's far-fetched logic became more and more obvious. In short, he attributed all the world's problems to the eunuchs sent by the emperor to collect taxes.

He also threatened the emperor that if things continued like this, the people would surely "be enemies of their families and enemies of each other, and with all their hearts united, there would be a huge rout at home."

Emperor Wanli was so angry that his nose was crooked.

This memorial was written entirely in accordance with the most politically correct words of the courtiers. It seemed that everything the emperor did was wrong, which is called admonishment. As for agreeing with the emperor's words, he couldn't write a single sentence. Even if something is good, it must be said to be wrong.

After this guy scolded the emperor's tax supervision system, his next sentence immediately made Wanli break his guard.

"The country has been in its heyday for more than [-] years. It belongs to Yangjiu, and it conquers east and west in order to gain satisfaction. The top is the master, and the bottom is draining the country..."

——The three great conquests of Wanli were all "conquests from the east to the west for satisfaction." If the Wanli emperor could work with his heart, there would be peace in the world, and there would be no conquests at all.

To be fair, Emperor Wanli was careful in military and political affairs, otherwise the three major campaigns would not have achieved results. Yang Yinglong of Bozhou was wiped out a few months ago. Wanli was very happy about this. He was planning to capture Bozhou on December [-]st. He would use the good news to certify his work in the past few years and silence the courtiers. However, he was captured. Before the ceremony was even completed, in Li Sancai's memorial, the victory of Bozhou had already become a war in which he "conquered the east and west for pleasure." Needless to say, even if he was captured more than a month later, he would not receive any praise from the courtiers.

Wanli immediately dismissed the memorial and said angrily: "How dare you, Mr. Shu?"

He was so angry that he was shaking all over, and Tian Yi beside him was also sweating. Tian Yi had long known that Wanli would react like this.

To be honest, what Li Sancai wrote in this memorial is indeed excessive. He can criticize heaven and earth, but there is really nothing to criticize about the Three Great Campaigns of Wanli.

The Battle of Ningxia was a rebellion by the Mongolian tribes, which took over the entire town of Ningxia. If we didn't carry out an encirclement and suppression campaign and the entire northwest border defense would be defeated, how could we not fight?

If we don't send troops in the Korean War, how can we explain to the vassal state?

As for the Pingyang Yinglong Rebellion, it is also a must-do to stabilize the southwest.

If Wanli's three major conquests were not fought, the result would be chaos in the northwest, alienation of the vassal states, and disturbances in Yunnan and Guizhou. The courtiers would definitely scold Wanli for his inaction, but if they did fight, they would also accuse Wanli of being militaristic. Nothing good to say anyway.

Emperor Wanli stayed there and was depressed.

His distrust of civil servants has long existed. It actually originated from Zhang Juzheng's discipline since childhood and his own illness.

When Wanli was in his twenties, his legs and feet were not well. At that time, Zhang Juzheng had just passed away. When the chief minister Shen Shixing asked Emperor Wanli how he was doing, Wanli answered honestly: He was in very bad health. The imperial doctor's treatment was of no use. I looked up the medical books and prescribed medicine myself. , I can only take more care of your ministers and ministers in state affairs.

But his honest words did not win the sympathy of his courtiers.

Emperor Wanli's chronic diseases were indeed difficult to cure based on the current medical level. Emperor Wanli had no choice but to consult medical books to diagnose his illness.

Unable to find the cause of the disease, Emperor Wanli finally blamed everything on his childhood experiences.

He ascended the throne at the age of eight, and his life since he was a child was indeed not a good one. Zhang Juzheng often advised him to be simple. He was not allowed to give the children more food or meat, and sometimes even advised him to eat leftovers.

Zhang Juzheng's requirements for studying were even more stringent. When he was a child, Wanli rarely had the opportunity to sleep in and had to study boringly every day.

In Zhang Juzheng's view, he was cultivating the emperor's character, but Emperor Wanli thought that it was Zhang Juzheng's abuse since childhood that caused him to "lose his vitality" and "sit down the roots of the disease", which is why he is now so ill.

After Zhang Juzheng's death, although the court officials listed Zhang Juzheng's various crimes, no one ever mentioned that Zhang Juzheng was not good to Wanli when he was a child. Wanli knew that the court officials had opinions on Zhang Juzheng's various behaviors, but the only thing he said about Zhang Juzheng's "" He actually had a positive view on the matter of "abusing him".

As the emperor, Wanli felt aggrieved but could only endure it, but his hatred for the officials had already been planted.

Now every time he feels unwell, his hatred for these courtiers who are watching indifferently becomes even deeper.

Wanli felt that he had been wronged. His body had been treated like this, and he was scolded for wanting to rest.

In the eyes of the officials, everything he did was wrong, and all the problems in the world were blamed on him alone. Those officials were all so fed up that they turned around and dumped all the problems caused by corruption on his head, as if the whole world He sent eunuchs to get all the money back.

Emperor Wanli sat angry in his chair. He could imagine how the court officials talked about him.

Tian Yi also felt that the words of these courtiers were biased, but at this time he could not stand on the side of the emperor and continue to encourage him to confront the court.

Seeing that the emperor had not spoken for a long time, Tian Yi remonstrated in a low voice: "This memorial has gained quite a lot of support in the court recently. Your Majesty should treat him well."

Emperor Wanli couldn't believe it: "Tian Daban clearly knew that I was wronged and didn't help me to speak up, but he still wants me to treat them badly?"

Tian Yidao: "There are many discussions at court, how can we avoid it?"

Seeing that the emperor's face was not so good, Tian Yi did not dare to give in. He could only use a gentle approach and stepped forward to explore the teacup in Wanli's hand. Then he turned around and told the little eunuch next to him: "Your Majesty's tea has gone cold. Go and change it quickly." One cup."

The little eunuch next to Wanli was Tian Yi's godson. Hearing this, he quickly ran down to prepare.

In the past, this kind of treatment could somewhat remind Wanli of Tian Yi's tenderness when he took care of him in the past, but now it disappointed Emperor Wanli extremely.

"Ha," Wan Li couldn't help but sneer, "Everyone in the world slanders me. Even Tian Daban comes to challenge me. I am alone."

Seeing Wanli's face filled with grievances, Tian Yi felt a little distressed: "Your Majesty, things in the world cannot be managed through confrontation... The ministers and ministers will not retreat without an answer..."

(End of this chapter)