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

Chapter 302 Shen Yiguan is looking for strange books

The summer of the thirty-first year of Wanli was really not a good time for Emperor Wanli.

Everything started on the first day of April, which was the statutory day for the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifices to the Ancestral Temple. On this day, Emperor Wanli stayed in the harem as usual. He thought everything was business as usual. Although the officials had opinions, they could not do anything to him.

Then unfortunately a solar eclipse happened.

April is the first day of summer in the lunar calendar, the day of Zhengyang. Moreover, the solar eclipse occurs at the hour when the sun has just risen, and it does not end until the end of the month. It is really unlucky.

So it was lively.

The first one to jump out was Guo Zhengyu, the Minister of Rites, who said tremblingly:

"The "Spring and Autumn" book has disasters, none greater than a solar eclipse..."

Faced with the eclipse of hundreds of officials, Emperor Wanli came up with an idea. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Wanli issued an order: From now on, the Ming Dynasty will change the day of the Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices to the Ancestral Temple on the fifth day of April - there will be a solar eclipse on the day of the Ancestral Ancestral Temple sacrifice. I won't be able to solve the problem by not offering sacrifices to the Ancestral Temple on this day in the future. .

The officials are stupid, how can they still do this?

But his luck was obviously bad: on April 20th, there was a big earthquake in Chengtianfu.

All officials thought it was a warning from heaven, but Wanli reluctantly pretended not to see it.

In the end, among the four people who participated in the economic feast, two were from Zhejiang Party, one was from Donglin, and one was from Qi Party.

The chief assistant of the cabinet, Shen Guanyi, was appointed as the official of the Zhijing Banquet. The six ministers, the censors of the left and right censors, the history of general affairs, the minister of Dali Temple, two cabinet bachelors, and the top management of the Wanli Dynasty were all present.

Weird phenomena appeared in Beidu and Central Capital at the same time, and they were the kind that were rare to see in a century.

Shen Yiguan observed his words and said to Wanli: "Your Majesty, please give me wine and food."

During the Sutra Banquet, lecturers with higher cultural attainments could display their talents in front of Emperor Wanli, which was also a way to appease the officials.

Even Emperor Wanli had self-doubt because of this: Did he think that he was really showing off too much, so that he made heaven angry and people resentful, and God warned him?

Then the Hanlin Academy’s wine-offering leaders began to write a sermon. The sermon was divided into two parts, one was submitted to the emperor for reading, and the other was discussed and studied by the officials.

The officials were also quite happy about this. This is something that the Wanli Dynasty abolished for more than ten years after the death of Zhang Juzheng and started teaching the Sutra Banquet again, which can be recorded in the history books.

The waiters and others saluted and started the lecture. They talked about the Four Books first, and then the Classics and History. Not only the officials present but also Emperor Wanli himself were familiar with the content. However, in order to show his change of heart, Emperor Wanli could only sit down and sit down. Listen there.

So the relevant candidates were fiercely debated, and all the major parties tried their best. After a debate, they selected two people from the Hanlin Academy, Chunfang, and Guozi Jijiu Room to be lecturers, and two people from the Hanlin Academy to exhibit books. , cover the book.

At the end of May, Emperor Wanli finally released the news: the emperor was going to hold a Buddhist feast.

However, the climate of the Little Ice Age will recover. On May 1st, the big one came:

An earthquake occurred in the capital; at the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, Fengyang Mansion, the central capital of the Ming Dynasty, suddenly suffered a hailstorm in summer, and a hailstone as big as a bowl broke the roof of the imperial mausoleum hall.

Whether the anger of heaven and the people could not be controlled, at least in the face of the crazy evasion of officials, Emperor Wanli understood that something would happen if he continued to stay in the palace.

After talking in a daze all morning, when the first day of the Sutra feast was finally over, Shen Yiguan peeked and saw that Emperor Wanli's face was already very ugly.

On June 2, the sutra feast begins.

Although the rituals of the Ming Dynasty's sutra banquets were complete, they had become mere formalities. They only showed that the emperor was diligent in studying Confucianism and was good at Confucianism. Emperor Wanli had long stopped participating.

Call it a coincidence, but it's too much of a coincidence. The world was shocked, and the officials suggested that the emperor should cultivate his moral character and reflect on himself to avoid the natural disaster.

Emperor Wanli could no longer sit still, shook his head and said, "I am sick and have an unbearable headache. It is really difficult to support me. Please ask Mr. Shen Ge to bring someone to Zuoshunmen for a meal."

Shen Yiguan nodded and said: "I obey the order." He got up and took everyone to eat. The officials who participated in the banquet had nothing to say. It would be great if Emperor Wanli came to participate in the banquet. Don't ask for too much.

Li Tingji followed silently and left, and couldn't help but feel worried when he left the Wenhua Hall. Sutra banquet is a very tedious task. The sutra banquet is not over after one day. There is a daily lecture every two days. The format of daily lecture is simpler than that of sutra banquet. It does not require many people to serve. This time, the struggle between the DPRK and China came out. The most famous Japanese lecturer is Li Tingji.

Li Tingji was ranked second in the eleventh year of Wanli.

He is Shen Yiguan's disciple, but his personality is different from his smooth master. He has a reputation of being fair and impartial. He handled government affairs in an orderly manner when he was the second minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works in Nanjing. Now he is the left minister of the Ministry of Rites. As a Zhejiang Party member, he works part-time as a daily worker. Talk about officials.

After dinner at Zuoshunmen, the lecturers dispersed. Li Tingji took a sedan chair home for a walk, then changed his clothes and ran to find Shen Yiguan.

Sitting down in the master's mansion, he asked:

"Master Shen, will your Majesty still attend the lecture the day after tomorrow?"

Shen Yiguan said: "I have been sitting here all morning and have endured it. I will probably talk as usual in the future."

He asked his disciple: "Are you ready for the speeches for tomorrow?"

Li Tingji said: "Students can pick up the content of the daily lectures at their fingertips, so there will be no problems." After Li Tingji passed the Jinshi examination, he worked in the Hanlin Academy for a long time, and also served as a priest in the Imperial Academy. He had a profound foundation in Confucianism and taught He has been studying for a long time, and it is very easy for him to cope with daily work with his talent and learning.

After saying this, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face: "I'm just afraid that the Holy Spirit will ask difficult questions that will be difficult to answer."

Shen always knew that the so-called difficult issues Li Tingji mentioned were not that they were difficult in Confucianism, but that Emperor Wanli's character might make things difficult for Li Tingji if he was unhappy.

He thought for a while and said: "It is a great good thing that the Holy One can reopen the sutra feast. There is no need to be too serious in this one-day lecture. You can pick up some popular opinions on the market to attract the Holy One's interest."

Li Tingji nodded and said, "That's all."

Although Shen Yiguan and Li Tingji participated in the Sutra Feast with the intention of competing for power and gain, out of their original intention as civil servants, they both felt that they had an obligation to allow Emperor Wanli to hold more Sutra Feasts.

A minister in the Ministry of Rites and a chief minister in the cabinet could only think of new ideas that could attract Emperor Wanli, just like he was studying how to give lectures to children.

Shen Yiguandao: "Wang Jianyang has recently published a book called "Shangshu Ancient Wen Shuzheng" that has been circulated in the capital. Have you heard of it?"

Li Tingji was shocked when he heard this: "This book is quite controversial. Is it inappropriate to recommend it to the Holy One?"

Emperor Wanli didn't respect Confucianism enough. Li Tingji also wanted to break Emperor Wanli's temper through daily lectures. He was really unwilling to recommend Wang Wenlong's "Shu Zheng" to Wanli.

Shen Yiguan smiled when he heard this and said, "If you don't agree, then think of other ideas."

The two of them consulted until evening, but could not come up with a better solution. After Li Tingji said goodbye and left, Shen Guanyi called his staff and said, "Bring me the "Book of Documents" and I will study it carefully."

Li Tingji had just entered Beijing as an official, and he was not very clear about Emperor Wanli's character. There was still hope for him, but Shen Guanyi had been in the cabinet for several years and had long understood that Wanli was hopeless. . It is simply a fool's errand to imagine that the emperor's character can be changed through a one-day lecture.

Shen always had a very realistic attitude towards this daily lecture. He only hoped to attract Emperor Wanli with the content and allow him to hold more daily lectures on Jingfeng. This would be regarded as his greatest achievement.

He didn't care what he told Wanli.

On June 5th, the daily lecture was held in the Chuan Hall between the Wenhua Hall and the Back Hall.

A total of five people came to today's daily lecture: three pavilion elders, plus Li Tingji who lectured on the Four Books, and Tang Wenwen who lectured on classics and history.

At sunrise, Emperor Wanli went to the east room of the back hall of Wenhua Hall to perform sacrifices. He worshiped in nine small niches and the Duke of Zhou and Confucius. Cabinet ministers and lecturers were waiting by the railings of the Moon Altar outside Wenhua Hall.

After Emperor Wanli finished worshiping, he walked into the back hall. The palace door opened, and the elders and ministers all walked in.

The format of daily lectures is much simpler than that of Jingyan. Emperor Wanli's throne is only three inches higher than the lecturer's seat. He is almost face to face with several lecturers. Moreover, unlike Jingyan, lecturers can spread their lecture notes on the table. On the Internet, they only have textbooks in front of them, and the content they teach depends entirely on their own memory.

(End of this chapter)