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

At the same time as the Jiangnan Physics Society was meeting, the second demon book case was already in turmoil in the capital. The Donglin Party members falsely accused the Zhejiang Party and wanted to blame Shen Yiguan's party members for the crime of writing the demon book. The Zhejiang Party luckily survived the incident. Pass, so he launched a revenge, trying to pin the blame for the demon book case on Guo Zhengyu of the Donglin Party.

Now the Zhejiang Party is on the offensive, trying to get the suspect Gao Shengguang to give a confession that is unfavorable to the Donglin Party. They do this every day and even arrest Gao Shengguang's wife, concubines, and children for interrogation.

Qi Shengguang's son was only ten years old. Zhejiang Party officials still interrogated him and pricked his fingers with needles to force him to confess Guo Zhengyu.

The Zhejiang Party no longer wants to ask for results, but to look for evidence with preset results.

Qiao Shengguang was scared at first, but gradually his backbone was broken. He knew that he would not survive, and even his whole family would be ruined. He gritted his teeth and wanted revenge. Even though he had been beaten badly, he just refused to obey Zhejiang. The Party's demands slander Donglin Party members.

And the more this happens, the more the Zhejiang Party feels that it can achieve a breakthrough with just a few more strikes.

Guo Zhengyu once served as a lecturer in the East Palace. The eunuch said that Zhu Changluo often cried and asked: "Why do you want to kill my good lecturer?"

Zhu Changluo is already twenty-one years old, and of course he is not a childish crybaby. His behavior is to stand up for the Donglin Party. The Donglin Party is trying its best to protect Zhu Changluo's status as the crown prince in the struggle for the country. The crown prince has to do this. political expression.

The party strife brought about by the demon book case has actually affected the operation of the imperial court. Three cabinet ministers have been included in the suspect list. In the past few months, Jinyiwei, Dongchang, and the Three Law Departments have been interrogating and arresting people one after another. The entire court has long been No one is working hard, they are all concerned about party disputes.

Wanli also had to take action.

First, in order to show the world that he had no intention of abolishing the establishment, Wanli went to Qixiang Palace to summon the crown prince Zhu Changluo. He held Zhu Changluo's hand and "taught him a loving lesson": "I also know that you are a pure, kind and filial friend... You should feel at ease." Read without fear."

Then he dismissed a group of Jinyiwei officials and courtiers who were involved in the demon book case. Even Li Dai, the official minister, was directly ordered to retire by Wanli because he took too obvious sides in the demon book case.

This is an official at the level of a minister. Emperor Wanli has a strong intention to suppress party strife. However, in this major party struggle, both the Zhejiang Party and Donglin feel that they have been wronged and full of resentment. How can it end so easily?

That night, Fang Congzhe came to the Zen room of the temple to find Wang Wenlong. He first tried to persuade him and said, "Today, Shen Yun will speak more bluntly. That's because he has resentment in his heart, not against Jianyang. Please don't blame Jianyang."

Wang Wenlong nodded and said: "I didn't want to comment too much on the current situation. I was just worried about things in the physics club. It's natural to have some disagreements. I'm afraid Yun will blame me. I don't have any grudges in my heart."

Fang Congzhe said with a smile: "When I read Jianyang's writings in the past, I knew that Jianyang was a generous person. It's really good."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of calligraphy and spread it on the desk. Wang Wenlong saw four powerful characters written on the paper: Heaven and Earth are unified.

These four words are very consistent with the idea of ​​pursuing the truth of heaven and earth in physics.

Fang Congzhe said: "I wrote this specifically for our physics club, please accept it from Jianyang."

Wang Wenlong looked at the beautiful calligraphy and said with a smile: "Mr. Fang is very thoughtful. The Physics Club will hold a lecture hall this year. I just happened to find someone to carve this word into a plaque and hang it in the lecture hall of the Physics Club."

Fang Congzhe's calligraphy is famous all over the world. Writing large characters is different from writing small characters. It requires not only energy but also considerable physical strength. These characters take a lot of time.

Fang Congzhe had no party or faction at first. The reason why he was able to get the support of Ye Xianggao from the Zhejiang Party and the Donglin Party was because of his character that harmonized with Ding Nai's intentions.

Fang Congzhe served as the director of the Imperial Academy at that time. He had many disciples and had such a good personality, so he naturally made friends with many people. In history, not only the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party, but also the leader of the Qi Party, Qi Shijiao, also recommended Fang Congzhe to join. Pavilion.

However, faced with the quagmire of party strife in the late Wanli Dynasty, although Fang Congzhe strived for fairness, he had to join the party forces to protect himself, and at the same time he had to do a lot of peaceful things to survive.

In the end, Fang Congzhe's reputation was mixed. Some said he was hardworking and mature, while others said he was cowardly and indecisive, causing harm to the country and the people. Seeing Wang Wenlong accept the calligraphy, Fang Conzhe was silent for a while, then asked Wang Wenlong with a smile: "I heard Jianyang speak today, and I know that Jianyang doesn't want to get involved in the current situation too much, and some words he just couldn't help but say out of his mouth. .”

Wang Wenlong smiled when he heard this, neither admitting nor denying it.

Fang Congzhe asked: "If the outcome of this party struggle only affected the current situation, Jianyang would not have been so decisive when he spoke. From what I heard in Jianyang's tone, Jianyang seemed to think that this struggle would cause great harm to both parties?"

Wang Wenlong glanced at Fang Congzhe, nodded and said, "To be honest, if the two Mr. Shen Ge continue to fight like this, they will probably get burned in the end."

"Jianyang thought a pavilion elder would be forced to quit?" Fang Congzhe also guessed the final outcome of this struggle and asked directly.

Wang Wenlong nodded and said: "Now the two Shen Ge elders are powerful enough. After this party struggle, they will inevitably unite a group of buddies. Not only do they have rights, but they also hate each other. They will attack each other to the death. If If a cabinet minister wants to quit, it will probably cause even greater chaos."

Fang Congzhe frowned and asked: "The struggle has already involved the position of Pavilion Elder, what bigger trouble could there be?"

The most powerful method in party struggle is to remove the enemy's official position, and the highest-ranking official in the Manchu Dynasty is the cabinet minister. If the outcome of the struggle is to remove one of the enemy's cabinet ministers, this is undoubtedly the most serious situation. as a result of.

As a person with considerable political experience, Fang Congzhe had a premonition that the fight over the demon book case was bound to spread. It was not impossible to get rid of a pavilion elder. However, Wang Wenlong said that the fight could produce worse results, but he could not imagine it. .

"What if one Pavilion Elder asks to take another Pavilion Elder away when he leaves?" Wang Wenlong asked rhetorically.

Fang Congzhe was stunned: "Isn't that the case?"

Wang Wenlong said solemnly: "Just imagine, Mr. Fang, if the two Mr. Shen Ge go together and face the already troubled court, what will the situation be like in front of Mr. Zhu Ge?"

Fang Congzhe thought carefully:

Now the three ministers in the cabinet, Shen Guanyi and Shen Li, have their own parties, but Zhu Geng has no party power. If they withdraw from the cabinet at the same time, the cabinet will return to the situation like the Zhao Zhigao period when ministers had no party members and whatnot. A situation where nothing can be done.

Moreover, what Zhu Geng was facing was that the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party were fighting to the death, and the parties in North Korea and China were even more powerful. Thinking about such a scene is a disaster.

Fang Congzhe became more and more frightened as he thought about it, so he could only console himself by saying, "The Holy One will not let such a situation happen, right?"

"Yes," Wang Wenlong nodded, "Your Majesty will not let such a situation arise..."

What else could he say? You can't just tell Fang Congzhe that Wanli finally took over and let Shen Yiguan and Shen Li leave, leaving a big mess for the world, right?

Fang Congzhe's expression became more and more ugly. He also knew the character of Emperor Wanli. Emperor Wanli's sense of responsibility was limited. If this party dispute got too serious, Emperor Wanli might really seek death.

After thinking for a long time, Fang Congzhe solemnly clasped his fists at Wang Wenlong and said, "Jianyang, I understand why you are so opposed to this party struggle. I will definitely convey your words to Mr. Shen Ge and try my best to persuade him."

Wang Wenlong is not very hopeful about this. Shen Yiguan and Shen Li stir up a fire, but they may not be able to extinguish it themselves.

Before leaving, Fang Congzhe thought of something again and said to Wang Wenlong: "Jianyang, the missionary Matteo Ricci has come to Suzhou these days. He also has a lot of knowledge in physics and science. He has long wanted to meet you. Yun will be with you." He is a good friend and just asked me to convey this news."

Wang Wenlong was also very interested in Matteo Ricci, the most famous missionary in the Wanli period. He nodded and said, "I'm not in a hurry to go back to Nanjing. I can just go and meet him."

(End of this chapter)