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

Chapter 306 Zhejiang Party recommends book

Beijing, Shen Yiguan's residence.

Chief Assistant Shen Yiguan, Shangshu Xiao Daheng of the Ministry of Punishment, Li Tingji, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and many bigwigs of the Zhejiang Party gathered together.

There are all busy people here. Even though Shen Yiguan contacted him in advance, Shen Yiguan still had to wait for more than half an hour before everyone could get together.

While waiting, Shen Yiguan sat there and flipped through "On the Nation and the State", nodding secretly as he read.

Xiao Daheng sat down and said with a smile: "What book did Mr. Ge read that he admired so much?"

Shen Yiguan put down the book and said, "This book is very interesting. It writes very thoroughly about many things about human nature. It is indeed thought-provoking."

Li Tingji was not in the mood to read. After the case of the fake King of Chu, the local governor and patrol did not dare to investigate, so they dismissed the case. Emperor Wanli ordered the ministers to hold a meeting to discuss the matter.

The original Minister of Rites, Guo Zhengyu of the Donglin Party, was considered involved in the case because of his involvement in the bribery of the King of Chu, and was not suitable to preside over the discussion. Therefore, Emperor Wanli asked Li Tingji to replace Guo Zhengyu as acting Minister of Rites as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites. this matter.

Although Emperor Wanli's move was obviously to help the Zhejiang Party, it also pushed Li Tingji to the forefront. He was afraid that one wrong move would affect the entire party and his own future.

Seeing that the people were almost here, Li Tingji said anxiously: "Master Shen, let's get down to business first. What is Master Shen's idea?"

The King of Chu also knew that the Donglin Party was behind the Chu clan and had been active within the Zhejiang Party for a long time. Gold and silver were scattered in large quantities. Xiao Daheng actually accepted bribes from the King of Chu, so he naturally supported the war with the Donglin Party. , to keep the position of King of Chu.

As the highest official of the Zhejiang Party within the Ministry of Rites, Li Tingji could only nod and obey the orders, otherwise he would really not be able to survive within the party.

"The officials of the Ministry of Rites are just written documents. Many of them are sincere and have no real relationship with the Donglin Party. If we use thunderous methods without discernment, I am afraid it will cause criticism from others and think that we and others Those who share the same party and oppose those who are different cannot tolerate others." Li Tingji did not want to be appointed as the official of the Ministry of Rites. On the one hand, he was more upright, and on the other hand, he had just become the acting minister of the Ministry of Rites. As soon as he took office, he followed the cabinet elders to rectify the officials in his department. , it would be extremely unpleasant if it spread out, and it would definitely cause great difficulties for his work in the future.

"What do you think?" Shen Yiguan straightened his clothes and asked.

After the meeting, Xiao Daheng was finally reassured that it had nothing to do with him how difficult it was for Li Tingji. He only hoped that the Zhejiang Party would get better and better, and he could also benefit from it.

"Master Shen, would you like to think about it again?" Li Tingji was the first to object after hearing this.

"You really have to pay attention to the sense of proportion. The Donglin Party can't be beaten to death at once. If you do too much, it won't look good to others." Shen Yigui agreed and said: "This time, I will only take part in a few officials from the Ministry of Rites and Guo Zhengyu, and everyone else." Don’t ask, after this incident, I have to draw a clear line with King Chu!”

Hearing this, Shen Guanyi said angrily: "They have made it clear that they are against us, so why can't we even fight back? Why do we have to be members of the Donglin Party to fight?"

Shen Guanyi frowned slightly when he saw him like this, feeling a little dissatisfied with his protégé. Li Tingji was obviously a member of the Zhejiang Party, but he always kept a thin line when doing things and was unwilling to consider the party wholeheartedly. In the eyes of outsiders, he was fair, but It seems to Shen Guanyin that this is a bit unclear.

Hearing this, Li Tingji's face turned pale and he lowered his head to speak. However, Xiao Daheng thought for a while and nodded repeatedly: "This point is indeed extremely important."

Xiao Daheng quickly tried to persuade both sides to make peace, and put forward his own point of view: "This time we have been tricked by the Donglin Party, and there are many prostitutes following us. If we don't kill the chickens to scare the monkeys, there will be no way to do it in the future. I also thought that we would join in the defeat. The officials of the Ministry of Etiquette are just showing off, but if this were not the case, I would be despised by my subordinates as Minister, wouldn’t I?”

Li Tingji's courtesy name is Er Zhang.

A director of the Criminal Department on the side also nodded and said: "I think what Xiao Shangshu said is very true, but you must pay attention to the matter of proportion." Xiao Daheng is his immediate boss. Whether it is from the perspective of party interests or official favors, he naturally I want to show my support to Tycoon Xiao.

Shen Guanyi looked at Li Tingji and said, "It's up to you to propose which officials of the Ministry of Rites to join."

The Zhejiang Party has already had many discussions on this matter, but has never made up its mind. At this time, Shen Guanyi said with a relaxed face: "I have made up my mind and picked up the evidence of the Donglin Party members' collusion. , make every effort to impeach a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites."

The King of Chu paid him thousands of taels of bribes, but at this time Li Tingji did not hesitate to sell the King of Chu. He nodded and said: "This King of Chu is also a hidden danger. We must maintain boundaries with him after this matter. If Mr. Ge If you don’t remind me, I wouldn’t have thought of it.”

"This idea was not mine?" Shen Yiguan said.

"Which peer has such talent?" "Xu Jingyu of Fujian wrote in his letter." Shen Yiguan smiled and pointed to the "On Nation and State" on the table, "I guess this method was not what Jingyu thought of alone. It was probably the author of the book who gave him advice.”

Everyone looked at the book on the table. When they saw the name of the author of the book, Xiao Daheng was surprised and said: "It turns out to be Wang Jianyang. He has a new book?"

However, Xiao Daheng continued: "Mr. Ge, I heard that this person has a close relationship with Ye Xianggao. He runs a newspaper in Suzhou, and Li Sancai is involved in it. The Donglin Party members are all protecting him."

"Of course I know." Shen Yiguan said, "He is Wang Jianyang, not Xu Wenchang, the Three Treasures of Shaoxing."

Everyone present was stunned when they heard this, and then laughed.

At this time, everyone in the official circles said that Shaoxing had three treasures: Shaoxing dialect, Shaoxing wine, and Shaoxing master.

Shaoxing Prefecture, like Suzhou Prefecture, has many scholars and the imperial examination is difficult. Most people go to seek their own jobs after passing the examination.

Many scholars in Suzhou Prefecture became doctors, while many scholars in Shaoxing Prefecture became masters. Because there were many Shaoxing masters in and out of the palace, Shaoxing dialect also became a special common language in the officialdom. The master's staff used it to talk to each other, which had a certain effect of keeping secrets and building relationships.

Xu Wei and Xu Wenchang were also from Shaoxing. He was the first staff member of the Ming Dynasty and the representative of the Shaoxing Master.

Everyone laughed, and Shen Guangyuan brought back the topic with a serious face: "I checked the information about Wang Jianyang and found out that his talent and writing are first-class, and he travels among various factions. In just a few years, he actually came from an overseas country. He returned as a guest and became an assistant to the Imperial Academy. His talents are comparable to those of ancient think tanks, and his written memorials are also capable of reaching the most elegant halls. It can be seen that such a person is not content with being an assistant. What's more, the Holy Emperor also likes his books now. He would not be able to make friends with such a person. deficit."

After all, in fact, the main reason why Shen Guangyuan was willing to make friends with Wang Wenlong was the last sentence: Emperor Wanli liked his "Book of Documents".

There were emperors in the Ming Dynasty who liked novels, the most typical one being Jiajing. Jiajing was very fond of novels when he was not seeking immortality and visiting Taoism. Records record that he always asked eunuchs to submit new novels, and he often liked to use novels when speaking to ministers. Allusions in.

If Wang Wenlong traveled to the Jiajing Dynasty, he might be able to stay in the emperor's heart through the novels he wrote.

It's a pity that Emperor Wanli didn't like novels very much at this time. No one knows what this emperor likes. He seems to only like money... It is extremely rare for Wanli to praise someone's books. This alone is enough for Shen Yiguan to make friends with Wang Wenlong. What's more, it doesn't cost anything to help Wang Wenlong become famous.

In July, the case of the fake King of Chu was settled. The Zhejiang Party's connections in the court were still stronger than those of the Donglin Party, and the crisis was finally turned into safety.

Emperor Wanli issued an edict: King Chu had inherited the throne for more than 20 years, so why was it revealed today? Moreover, the husband reported that his wife's testimony was not credible, so he demoted Zhu Huabao to a commoner on false accusations and banned him from returning to his hometown in Fengyang to guard the mausoleum.

Shen Yiguan also instigated Zhejiang Party Censor Yang Pikang and others to impeach the officials of the Ministry of Rites for "suppressing the opinions of the ministers and not reporting on the facts."

Guo Zhengyu also wanted to fight back against Shen Yiguan, but in the end he was attacked by the Zhejiang Party Censor and resigned.

The Zhejiang Party won a complete victory.

Immediately afterwards, Shen Guanguan directly asked the Imperial Academy to print a thousand copies of "On the Nation and State" and distribute it throughout the capital, so that all civil and military officials in the capital would read the book, and also sent Wang Wenlong a royalties.

Theoretically, the Imperial College does not pay royalties for printing books, but for Shen Guangxi, this was not a problem at all. He directly gave Wang Long the title of "collaborator" and paid Wang Wenlong the salary and subsidies for the collation as royalties.

Wang Wenlong was also quite happy to receive the royalties.

Mainly because he learned that his book was circulating in the capital.

Although Shen has always been suspected of using public money for his own affairs by letting the Imperial Academy print books, having the Imperial Academy's economic platform is obviously very beneficial to the promotion of "On the Nation and the State". At least no one will rashly ban this book anymore.

(End of this chapter)