When Shen Zhanran came to the cabinet, he saw Ni Yuanlu, Cheng De, Meng Zhaoxiang and others discussing in low voices with Fan Jingwen. But when they saw him, they stopped and then stood up to leave.
When Shen Zhanran saw this, he knew that they were colleagues for many years, and he was wary of his sudden favor, so he bowed his hands in a silent manner.
Ni Yuanlu and others were slightly surprised and hurriedly returned the courtesy.
"Zhanran, you came just in time. Everyone was talking about the auspicious golden dragon just now. You might as well share your opinion!"
At this time, Fan Jingwen stood up with a smile and said to Shen Zhanran kindly.
When Ni Yuanlu and others heard this, they couldn't help but stop and looked at Fan Jingwen with some surprise.
Fan Jingwen looked at the crowd with a smile and said: "It is rare to have a moment of peace at this moment. If you are interested, you may wish to discuss this auspiciousness again."
Ni Yuanlu was the first to react among the crowd, and said to Shen Zhanran with a kind face: "Yes, we have been discussing for a long time just now, but there is no result. You might as well share your high opinion!"
Shen Zhanran knew that Fan Jingwen's move was partly to avoid suspicion, and also to deliberately create opportunities for him to get close to everyone.
So he first glanced at Fan Jingwen gratefully, then bowed respectfully to Ni Yuanlu, and slowly said: "Actually, I was also very surprised when the golden dragon first appeared! But just after receiving His Majesty's instructions to reward the city defenders in Dongnuan Pavilion, I get it."
As he spoke, he glanced at the crowd again, and saw that although everyone responded with the voice, they all looked suspicious, so he continued: "Dragon is the sun in the world and the master of heaven. Therefore, the Qian hexagram of the Book of Changes is named dragon. Release the sky.”
"The Book of Changes says that the sky hangs down like an image, and the earth takes shape. Since the dragon is the most noble image of the sun in heaven, the earth also has a shape that matches it. And among all the people in the world, there is no one more noble and noble than the Son of Heaven, so I I think the golden dragon appeared this time because of His Majesty."
"Secondly, although the golden dragon has a murderous aura, it still retains its nature as a dragon. The green dragon belongs to wood among the five elements, and is a merciful person. Therefore, your majesty kills corrupt officials one after another, but he still has the heart to save the living people."
"For example, today when I was discussing with Duke Fan how to use the land outside the capital to encourage the people to defend the city, I was worried that there would be too many powerful people in the capital and the people would be afraid and the policy would be ineffective. I couldn't think of the right way."
"I didn't expect that when I asked His Majesty for instructions, Your Majesty didn't think too much and directly asked Mr. Fan to formulate the regulations to ensure that the people's property would not be infringed. This reflects His Majesty's benevolence in loving the people like his own son... "
Ni Yuanlu and others were a little surprised when they first heard him talk about the principles of heaven and earth, but they didn't care much.
Later, when Shen Zhanran went from the way of heaven to the way of humanity, from the troubled times to the prosperous times, I couldn't help but admire him in my heart.
It turns out that when Confucianism arose in the Spring and Autumn Period, it rarely talked about the way of heaven.
Therefore, with the invasion of Buddhism during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Confucianism was once in decline.
It was not until the rise of the five Taoists in the Northern Song Dynasty, especially the establishment of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism by Er Cheng and his disciple Zhu Zi, that Confucianism once again became glorious.
In the Ming Dynasty, due to Zhu Yuanzhang's praise, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism had become a treasure for governing the country.
Although Wang Yangming, a sage of his generation, strongly recommended the philosophy of mind, it did not shake the dominance of Neo-Confucianism.
On the contrary, it stimulated the literati's style of debate. Although it was not as profound as the abstruse talk in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was also divorced from practice. Apart from cultivating a proud character, it did not bring much benefit to the government or people's livelihood.
Shen Zhanran also explained this way because he knew that civil servants had this trend.
Seeing everyone's sincere expressions at this moment, I couldn't help but sigh secretly in my heart.
Just at this time, a young eunuch came to the cabinet to deliver an order, saying that His Majesty had summoned him.
So Shen Zhanran relayed Zhu Yuanzhang's explanation to Fan Jingwen, and then followed the young eunuch to Dongnuan Pavilion.
When he came to Dongnuang Pavilion, he found that Liu Bingwen, Gong Yonggu and others were reporting to Zhu Yuanzhang on the formation of a new army.
Then Zhu Yuanzhang told the story about the poison on the letter paper and Zhang Jinyan hiding soldiers in a private house in Changyi Gate. Everyone had a heavy look on their faces when they heard this.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "What are you all doing with such sad faces? This is a good thing. It means that we have found out the deployment of the rebels in the city. As long as this nail is pulled out, the capital will be truly under our control."
Upon hearing this, Liu Wenbing bowed forward and said with an angry face: "Your Majesty, the eunuchs are so rampant. Please issue an order and I will eradicate the eunuchs in Beijing immediately."
As Liu Wenbing opened his mouth, Gong Yonggu and Huang Nilu also came forward to request the order. Only Shen Zhanran had a strange look on his face.
So Zhu Yuanzhang said to Shen Zhanran: "Shen Qing, what do you think?"
Shen Zhanran bowed respectfully and said: "At this moment, your Majesty has a powerful army in his hand, and it will take no effort to destroy the eunuchs."
"It's just that I feel that the eunuchs dared to risk the disapproval of the world, but the poison they administered was not enough to kill His Majesty. There must be another mystery behind this."
"If we catch them all at this moment and lose the clues, it might be more appropriate to use the trick to lure the snake out of the hole!"
Liu Wenbing couldn't help frowning when he heard this, he opened his mouth but closed it again.
At this time, Gong Yonggu said to Shen Zhanran: "Master Shen, this is absolutely impossible. Your Majesty is a body of ten thousand gold, and the dragon body must not be damaged!"
"Your Majesty has not suffered any harm today. First, he is wise, second, he relies on the blessings of his ancestors, and third, he has the blessings of heaven. But this kind of thing cannot be done in two ways."
"If the eunuchs are allowed to act recklessly, and if they have another vicious plot, wouldn't that put His Majesty in danger?"
When Liu Wenbing saw that Gong Yonggu had said what he wanted to say but had not said yet, Liu Wenbing glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang worriedly, and seeing that he was not angry, he hurriedly defended Shen Zhanran and said: "Gong Duwei, you misunderstood Lord Shen's meaning. "
"He didn't mean to let it go, but to tighten it internally and loosen it externally, to fish for the big fish with a long line, and to find out all the people behind the scenes."
"However, although this matter is beneficial to the overall situation, it is too dangerous for His Majesty. It is better to consider it in the long term."
As Liu Wenbing spoke, he winked at Shen Zhanran and asked him to plead guilty to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Shen Zhanran smiled slightly and said: "Captain Gong is very concerned, but I feel that the eunuchs do not dare to really harm His Majesty, otherwise they would not just give some medicine for palpitations and fatigue this time."
"It can be seen that they do not want to bear the crime of regicide. They just want to make His Majesty lose his mind and help the rebels enter the city."
Hearing this, Gong Yonggu felt that his words were reasonable, but still felt that they were too dangerous. He shook his head and said, "This is just speculation..."
"Gong Qing, there is no need to discuss this matter further. We think what Shen Qing said is reasonable. Besides, if we can catch all the spies in the city, it will be worth taking some risks."
"We'd better discuss how to deal with Zhang Jinyan's ambush. In addition, according to Li Ruolian's news, there is also a general of Li Thief hiding in the city. We must deal with him tonight, otherwise it will be extremely detrimental to the defense of the city."
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, interrupted Gong Yonggu's words, and then said in a deep voice.
As soon as these words came out, both Liu and Gong looked surprised, and then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with eyes full of respect.
