I

  Chapter 890 886 [Ming History Publishing]

   Zhu Cizhen, the fourth prince of Zhu, is still working as a librarian in the Imperial Academy.

  After a few years of hard work, he has obtained the staff establishment, and he is still a first-level official. After two more years of working, he is estimated to be able to be a ninth-rank petty official.

   This guy is quite heartless, if not for the emperor's greeting, if not for his mother being Tian Concubine, he is probably still a fifth or sixth rank official now. Of course, he also has some advantages. Due to his reading of miscellaneous books and frequent writing of review articles, he is now a well-known literary critic.

   "Little Zhu, a new book has entered the library." Qin Daiwen shouted.

  Zhu Cizhen closed the book: "Come, come!"

  Qin Daiwen is Zhu Cizhen's master, and has become the only rank official (9th rank) in the library of the Imperial Academy.

  Zhu Cizhen took the servants out, came to the courtyard downstairs of the library, and asked, "What book?"

   "Two sets of "History of Ming Dynasty", please stamp and sign for receipt." The official who sent the book replied.

   Zhu Cizhen, who had a playful smile, suddenly became serious: "It's printed so soon?"

  The official said: "How fast? It took more than a year to proofread and typesetting."

  History books compiled by successive dynasties were basically hand-copied in two sets, and then stored in the imperial palace and court. It was not until many years later that it was gradually passed on to the people, and it was difficult for ordinary scholars to read.

  So don’t make fun of the Confucian scholars in the Ming Dynasty who didn’t read history. Before they became officials, they might not have even seen official history.

  Take the "History of Ming Dynasty" compiled by Datong Xinchao as an example. The complete set has a total of 3.3 million characters, and how many brushes have to be copied. Zhao Han was willing to spend money and let it be printed and published directly. After one and a half years, 2000 sets were finally printed.

   Except for the 120 sets in the official collection (most of which are sent to universities in various places), the rest are all sold in the private sector, and each set of "History of Ming Dynasty" is priced at 300 taels of silver.

  The price is too expensive, and it will definitely not be sold out in a short time.

   But there is absolutely no worry about selling them. There are a lot of book collectors all over the country, and they buy them one after another after hearing the news.

  Zhu Cizhen stamped and signed for the receipt, and asked the handyman to take it back to the library. After the selected bookshelf was put away, he quickly found the "Ben Ji" section, and directly looked at the Ben Ji about Chongzhen.

  When his father hanged himself, Zhu Cizhen was still young and didn't have much memory. Many years have passed, and he can only know what his father looks like from "History of Ming Dynasty".

  After reading Chongzhen's Benji, Zhu Cizhen found nothing, the main content was all state affairs.

   If you want to understand Chongzhen, you have to read "Records of Chongzhen".

   "Records of Chongzhen" was also compiled by the Datong New Dynasty. Together with relevant historical materials, it has been placed in the reference room of the "Ming History Editing Group".

   "Come here, move things!"

  Speaking of Cao Cao, when Cao Cao arrived, the Ming History editorial team really sent materials, and there were more than 40 large boxes.

  Zhu Cizhen sat there to sign for the receipt, and then let the handyman move in, and then took two officials to sort them out. The finished book needs to be placed on the relevant bookshelf, and some manuscript materials are carefully sorted out before being bound and put in the warehouse for safekeeping.

   "Records of Chongzhen" is mixed in here, many manuscripts that have been revised repeatedly, and the original copy was copied after the manuscript was completed.

   After the compilation of "History of Ming Dynasty" and "Records of Chongzhen", many historians of the Imperial Academy were awarded awards. Take Qian Qianyi as an example, the scattered ranks were directly capped, and he was awarded the Special Jin Guanglu Doctor (Zheng Yipin). The next time you write a book and make meritorious service, you will definitely not lose the title of Prince Shaobao.

   In the next half month, Zhu Cizhen will not do anything in his spare time except his job, and will read "Records of Chongzhen" seriously.

   Before finishing the whole book, Zhu Cizhen already had signs of high blood pressure.

  What kind of stuff was the imperial court in the late Ming Dynasty all about?

   Civil servants, military commanders, and eunuchs are all outrageous one by one.

At the end of the book, there is also a comment written by Zhao Han himself: "Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty was diligent in political affairs and self-willed. With the attitude of a middleman, he fell when he was unable to save the country. The death of the Ming Dynasty was caused by the failure of finances and taxes. It stems from the corruption of the system. The fact that the Ming Dynasty died because of the party struggle? The parties have been united and dissidents have existed since ancient times, so why did the Ming Dynasty collapse so quickly? I can get a glimpse of it when I look at the Wanli abolition of the government..."

   Rather than commenting on Chongzhen, it is better to comment on why the corruption of officials in the late Ming Dynasty accelerated.

  Before Wanli slackened his administration, no matter how fierce the party struggle was, he could still keep from collapsing. Since Wanli lay flat, Daming has completely slipped into the abyss. Officials retired, resigned, or died of illness, the emperor did not allow new officials to take office, more than half of the central officials were vacant, and local officials were also absent in various ways.

   No matter how greedy the officials are, it is better than no officials at all!

  Daming in the last years of Wanli almost became an anarchic society. There was a problem in the state and county, and the governor of the state and county could not be found. There were problems in the provinces, and the central government could not find a minister to take responsibility. Ever since, the eunuchs and gentry stepped forward to fill the power vacancy of the court and the government, and quickly controlled all aspects of the country.

   Land annexation has intensified exponentially, and the imperial court's income has been crazily reduced. Wanli also likes to send mine supervisors and tax envoys to completely disrupt the business environment across the country. Industry, agriculture and commerce are tantamount to a complete regression.

  Zhu Cizhen always felt that Daming's death was caused by treacherous ministers. Now that he finished reading "Chongzhen Records" and Zhao Han's comments, he finally got to know him better.

  His father, Chongzhen, is just an ordinary helmsman, but he has to steer a dilapidated ship full of holes. While sailing and repairing, there are still water bandits around. When the crew was repairing the ship, they also removed the nails, planks, and sails of the ship, hoping to take them back to their homes after landing. What's more, flirting with water bandits. Or, the crew members were busy fighting among themselves and took the initiative to pull the water bandits onto the boat to harm their opponents.

  The wrecked ship of the Ming Dynasty sank unjustly.

   "Husband came back so early?"

   "Well, I have nothing to do today."

  Zhu Cizhen is already married, she is the daughter of a bookseller, and the couple are relatively affectionate.

  As for his two older brothers, Zhu Cihong was the county magistrate of Chunhua in Shaanxi, and Zhu Cijiong was the governor of Duyun Prefecture in Guizhou.

  The elder sister, Aimee Zhu, is still unmarried due to special reasons. She learned painting skills from her relative Zhu Da, and now she specializes in illustrations for novels. Of course, it is not as good as famous ones, so the fee is relatively low, but it is basically no problem to support yourself.

   "Where's sister?" Zhu Cizhen asked.

   "Study..." The wife rushed out suddenly as she said, but it was the son who peed and mud, smashed the mud **** into the wall, and smashed the snow-white courtyard wall very beautifully.

   "Wow woo woo woo~~~~"

   There was a child crying in the yard, and Zhu Cizhen was angry and funny.

   "Boom boom boom!"

   "Sister, it's me."

"come in."

   Zhu Yuxi is painting a statue of a Bodhisattva, and the employer is an old lady from a well-to-do family. This kind of business doesn't make a lot of money. After the cost of drawing paper and paints, the profit is only a catty or two of eggs.

  Zhu Yuxi put down the brush, looked up and said, "It's early to go home today, don't you want to stay in the Imperial Academy to read?"

   "I've finished reading Dad's memorabilia these days." Zhu Cizhen said.

   Zhu Yuxi was taken aback for a moment, and remained silent.

  Zhu Cizhen said with emotion: "It's not easy for father. The world is in war and the people are in dire straits. It's not all father's responsibility."

  Zhu Yuxi asked: "Didn't the Imperial Academy compile the book to make Dad a villain?"

"There are good and bad," Zhu Cizhao explained, "I heard that "Chongzhen Shilu" has been revised more than ten times before and after, and His Majesty said that it should be edited to be pertinent and true. The father in the book is diligent and frugal, and he is considered a good emperor. The person is unknown."

  Zhu Yuxie sighed: "Hey, how can you be a good emperor if you are self-willed and don't know people well? Let's not talk about that, the third brother has a letter from his family today. He has been transferred to Guiyang to work, and he also gave him a new mailing address."

   "The third brother has been promoted?" Zhu Cizang said happily.

   "Forget it, it doesn't count, the grade has not been promoted, but he has been reused. The superior who promoted him is the nephew of the eldest brother's teacher...the teacher in Beijing." Zhu Yu said.

  Zhu Cizhen had nothing to say for a moment. Although their brothers and sisters had perished, they enjoyed the blessings of the Zhu family most of the time.

  After sitting for a long time, Zhu Cizhen said, "It's just my sister who is suffering."

   "It's good to be alone, I'm used to it." Aimee Zhu smiled.

Zhu Cizhao quickly changed the subject: "Many people came from Nanjing, including a few from France and Persia, who were allowed to visit the Imperial Academy. These people don't do serious studies, they just ask for painting skills every day. It seems that they The current emperor is also a foolish emperor, he doesn’t ask about common people but only about calligraphy and painting, just like Song Huizong.”

  Zhu Yuxi said: "Master often says that there are merits in Western painting, which must not be underestimated."

   Zhu Wei's master is Zhu Da, strictly according to seniority, Zhu Da belongs to Zhu Wei's great-uncle.

  Zhu Da was ordered by the emperor to communicate with missionary painters and integrate Eastern and Western painting methods, and some results have been achieved. He is different from his own painting style in history, and also different from Castiglione's painting style. He has absorbed certain techniques of European oil painting, and loves to create thick, bold and unrestrained freehand brushwork.

  Last year, Zhu Dajin presented a "Ten Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers", which is now hanging in the emperor's Qianqing Palace.

   Li Zhicheng, a missionary painter who also accepted the emperor's order and combined Chinese and Western styles, miraculously approached Castiglione infinitely, delicate, solemn, elegant, and extravagant, and was deeply loved by dignitaries.

  The siblings chatted for a while, and Zhu Cizang's wife called for dinner.

  The family also employs two servants, a woman who cooks and a maid who cleans.

   After dinner, they went back to their rooms.

  Zhu Yuxi continued to paint Bodhisattvas, while Zhu Cizhen went to write novels.

  This man has read too many miscellaneous books, and he doesn't want to engage in literary criticism anymore, and plans to write a great book by himself. Such an idea was born in the early spring of this year, when someone serialized "Fengyue Baojian" in the newspaper, which aroused Zhu Cizheng to have a heart for comparison.

   Once "Fengyue Baojian" was serialized, not only Nanjing paper was expensive, but it was also said to be passed on and recited.

   What is the name of the protagonist, Jia Baoyu?

  Everyone is guessing who the author is, but the newspaper only signs "Anonymous" when it is serialized. This arouses readers' curiosity even more, guessing whether it is a descendant of a certain nobleman from the previous dynasty, or a certain clan member from the previous dynasty.

  Zhu Cizhen was writing in his room, when suddenly Auntie Zhu knocked on the door and said, "Fourth brother, the Dragon Boat Festival will be in two days, and you will go to the palace to worship the festival. Don't go out to hang out again. You forgot about it last year."

   "Understood." Zhu Cizhen replied.

   (An update today.)

  (end of this chapter)