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

After the crisis of book ban was resolved, Wang Wenlong's home also welcomed some guests. They were all officials who came to visit specifically to establish relationships after hearing that Wang Wenlong's books were liked by Emperor Wanli.

But that's about it.

News that the emperor admired someone was often circulated in the market. As a foreign minister, he couldn't be sure. Even the eunuchs themselves couldn't tell the emperor's thoughts clearly.

Emperor Zhengde went on a hunting trip to Xuanfu, and the local guarding eunuch hired an actor from the mansion with "white hair" to perform for him. Emperor Zhengde admired this person very much and asked him his name and appearance. No. 1 "My head is white," he joked, "My head is white, but I wonder if my waist is also white?"

When the guarding eunuch heard this dirty joke, he thought that Emperor Zhengde admired the actor, so he immediately captured the actor, castrated him, and sent him to the palace.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Zhengde never thought of this incident again. He heard that the man with "white hair" had entered the palace, but he never summoned him later. He was just interested in seeing the young man with white hair that day, so he made a joke.

This is a typical example of eunuchs mistaking the emperor's wishes. The actor's "white hair" was unlucky and he had nowhere to redress his grievances.

As for the current situation, although everyone has heard that Emperor Wanli likes Wang Wenlong's books, no one is the tapeworm in Wanli's belly. We don't know whether Emperor Wanli really likes it or not, and to what extent he likes it.

And even if Emperor Wanli really liked Wang Wenlong's articles, Wang Wenlong was at best a Ci official, and this status was not as good as Wang Wenlong's reputation as a celebrity.

After all, Wang Wenlong's celebrity status was built up by piling up books one by one. No matter what happened to Wang Wenlong, as long as his books were placed there, his social status would not be reduced.

The lofty status of the Ci officials all depended on the emperor's love. If one day the emperor suddenly changed his mind, no matter how highly praised the Ci officials were, they would become ordinary people overnight.

Wasn't Zibai Zhenke also a master of the generation who was invited by Emperor Wanli and the Empress Dowager to lecture on Buddhism in the palace? In the end, Emperor Wanli did not say anything when he was tortured to death by the Zhejiang Party.

The attitude of most officials toward Wang Wenlong was respect, wanting to make friends, and not wanting to offend him, but it was not to the point of flattery. Only some eunuchs and lieutenant officials could be described as flattering towards Wang Wenlong.

On the other hand, Wang Wenlong relied on Emperor Wanli's appreciation to make things difficult for Liu Cheng and reduce the number of tax inspectors and arbitrary tax collection for the people of the four prefectures. After the story came out, many people in the officialdom and the people greatly praised Wang Wenlong's benevolence and righteousness.

In late August, Wang Wenlong left Nanjing again and headed to Huqiu, Suzhou.

In mid-August, the Huqiu Convention was held in Huqiu. It was a very famous local worship ceremony in this era, and there were endless acrobatic performances by singing and dancing artists.

However, Wang Wenlong did not go back to Huqiu to watch the excitement. This was because the gathering place of the Jiangnan Physics Club this year was set here.

The Physics Club was established last year. After a full year of development, it is now quite large.

There are more than 500 official members, and they are divided into various positions such as research, production, printing, and lectures.

It was only when Wang Wenlong returned to Suzhou that he discovered that the current physics club was really booming.

This year, the Physics Club directly rented a temple with beautiful scenery in Huqiu as a gathering place. During the Tiger Hill event, all the temples on the mountain were rented to outsiders, and the housing prices were extremely high. Although the Physics Club rented the temple to demonstrate the strength of the club in order to attract more He is a very loyal member, but he does appear to be a bit wealthy.

The "Unsolved Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Times" and "Encyclopedia of Enlightenment" printed by the Physics Society have a group of loyal readers in Jiangnan. They not only have a publicity effect, but also bring considerable income to the Physics Society.

However, after arriving at Huqiu, Wang Wenlong also found that the atmosphere in the club seemed a bit strange this year. After staying in the temple, Wang Wenlong first visited Xu Guangqi.

Xu Guangqi is preparing for next year's general examination and does not have enough time. Now he has handed over the operation of the Physics Society to Wang Zheng.

When he saw Wang Wenlong, he smiled bitterly and said, "There are more people in our physics club, so things will become more complicated."

Wang Wenlong asked: "What problems did this conference encounter?"

"It's a bit troublesome," Xu Guangqi said with emotion: "The Physics Club has attracted many new literati into the club. This year, there were two cases of pretending to be King Chu and demon book in the capital. The party struggle is fierce, and even our physics club has begun to fight."

Wang Wenlong was confused: "What does the party struggle between North Korea and China have to do with our physics society?"

Xu Guangqi smiled bitterly and said: "There are people in our physics club who support the Donglin Party, and there are also people who support the Zhejiang Party. Whenever these two parties come into contact, they will naturally have conflicts and fight endlessly."

Wang Wenlong still didn't understand and asked: "Isn't the management of the physics club in the hands of the social committee? What do they have to argue about?"

Although he often hangs out in Suzhou and often goes to play with Xu Shupi and others, he does not participate in the work of the Physics Club on weekdays. He knows that the Physics Club adopts a committee system, and now the theoretical research and book compilation work in the club has been It was left to Xu Shupi. In terms of printing and publicity, Chen Yujie, Xu Guangqi's nephew, was in charge. As for scientific research, Wang Zheng was in charge. All the power had been distributed. I really don't know what else could cause conflicts in the Physics Society?

Xu Guangqi smiled and said: "The big things in the court are handled by the emperor, followed by the cabinet, and the details are handled by six departments. These high officials have assigned positions, so can they run smoothly and not quarrel?"

Xu Guangqi explained: "Nowadays, many of the new members joining Jiangnan in the Physics Club are from the Xindong Lin Party, but two big figures have been added to the top management. One is the eldest son of Mr. Shen Ge, General Shen Yun, and the other is the former Guozi Secretary. Industry side Zhonghan, they have a high status, they have all been elected to the social committee this year, and many Donglin Party members are not willing."

Wang Wenlong nodded, probably guessing something.

Shen Taihong was named Yunjiang, and his official residence was Shangbao Sicheng. He was Shen Yiguan's eldest son. As for Fang Zhonghan, he was Fang Congzhe, who had been dismissed from office and released.

These two were both big bosses of the Zhejiang Party, and they both liked science in history. Wang Wenlong knew that they joined the Physics Club and did not find it strange at the time. It was quite normal for them to be selected as committee members based on their backgrounds.

Xu Guangqi added: "If Donglin is the only one who can't cause trouble, the Zhejiang Party is also a bit domineering. We must let the blocked figures take power in the physics club, and even let the government join in. After the discussion a few days ago, Among them, some figures from the Zhejiang Party even suggested that Jianyang should not be the president of the physics club and that a new person should be selected from the physics club."

Wang Wenlong also frowned when he heard this. Although it didn't matter to him whether the honorary permanent president of the Physics Society was right or wrong, after the Physics Society expanded, a large number of officials also joined the society. These Zhejiang Party figures have obviously taken over the party and government. Come to the physics club to play.

Such messing up will only ruin the atmosphere of the physics club.

He also understood Xu Guangqi's difficulties.

They don't want to destroy the physics club, but they can't drive out these officials in the physics club.

Even Catholics who want to enter China have to make special friends with officials and scholars. These days, clubs cannot gain momentum without attracting officials and celebrities and other prestigious figures.

(End of this chapter)