"The title of Marquis is not my intention, but I hope the sea will be peaceful."
This poem comes from "The Deepness of Tao Qian" and was written by Qi Jiguang when he was the commander of the Dengzhou Guard.
Unknowingly, it has been nearly fifty years since then.
Nowadays, the maritime frontiers of the Ming Dynasty have become much calmer, but Qi Jiguang himself has still been granted the title of Marquis. Not only has he been granted the title of Marquis, he has now become the Duke of the country, ranking as a Duke and in charge of military aircraft.
Qi Jiguang was naturally very satisfied with this.
Especially now that the emperor has informed the world that some of his past actions of flattering powerful officials and following people's influence have been attributed to the old rituals, it can be said that the only thing he cares about has been relieved a lot.
But now, all he was thinking about was how to repay the holy grace and do something for the implementation of the new ritual before returning to his homeland.
to be honest.
Qi Jiguang himself had had enough, the kind of environment in the old rites era where people were neither humans nor ghosts.
In that era, everyone was talking about benevolence, justice and morality, but all they were doing was to steal men and prostitute women.
Even though Qi Jiguang really wanted to serve the country and secure the country, he was a morally obsessive person, but he had to succumb to the general environment. While he had strict requirements on the officers and schools under his command, he was not allowed to withhold military pay or rob the people, while at the same time he was deducting military pay from his superiors. Give gifts and help the rich and powerful smuggle.
The root of all this is that the highest power holder under the old rites, that is, the emperor himself, only knows how to indulge in extravagance and lust by taking profits from the inside, which makes the entire Ming Dynasty effective. The royal family is extremely corrupt and the officials are petty. , everyone worked together to wipe out the wealth of the people in the world, making the people's sufferings worse.
After Emperor Wanli implemented the new etiquette, he took the lead in extracting external benefits and generating internal benefits. Therefore, even if the royal family received large benefits and the officials only received small benefits, the superiors and subordinates could take away much less people's wealth.
As a result, as the Ming Dynasty has developed to this day, the royal family has taken the lead in conceding huge profits to foreign countries. Even though most of the huge profits flowed into the pockets of powerful bureaucrats, a small part of the benefits flowed into the pockets of the common people like a trickle like a sweet spring.
What's more.
The Chinese people have always been industrious. As long as they do not plunder or bother, they will take the initiative to increase their wealth even if the benefits provided by the royal family do not benefit them.
Therefore, after the implementation of the new rituals, the people first stopped plundering people's wealth because of the royal family. Therefore, in the bureaucracy, subordinates do not have to plunder people's wealth to please their superiors. Superiors also care more about their own moral integrity, and more and more officials actively refuse gifts from their subordinates. , and the people will be more secure, and the officials will be more honest.
But the interests of both officials and people are increasing, and the increase is much greater than that in the old rites era. It is mainly an increase in legitimate income, not the gray income obtained by plundering and plundering in the old rites era.
Qi Jiguang also supported Xinli.
After all, the new gift not only allows him to be more morally upright, but also allows him to obtain more legal assets to help the poor among his relatives and friends, and can even blatantly engage in high consumption without having to hide the money and only use it for bribes to run away from relationships. , and there is no need to worry about the official Jin Yiwei watching his property. After all, his property is basically legal, and most of it is even publicly known to the relevant financial yamen of the imperial court.
Therefore, Qi Jiguang became a firm believer in the new rituals and determined to do his best to do something more in his twilight years.
Wang scolded him for being pretentious, but he was not angry. He just took out a gold hairpin filled with gems from a treasure box on the bedside and gave it to Wang:
"I always remember that today is the day when you enter my Qi family, so I have prepared a gift for you a long time ago. A hairpin worth thousands of gold. I felt that only you, madam, can wear it. Others are not worthy, so I bought it. "
Wang was confused.
"You actually still remember?"
Wang took the gold hairpin and asked.
Qi Jiguang smiled and said, "I will remember it for the rest of my life!"
Mrs. Wang pursed her lips and her eyes became hot. After a while, her eyebrows suddenly stood up again, and she habitually blamed Qi Jiguang:
"How could you waste silver coins like this! You, Qi Yuanjing, don't think there are too many silver coins, so instead of buying Qian Jin Ji, you bought Qian Jin Hairpin instead!"
"I earned the silver coins for nothing and bought the hairpin for nothing. I give it to you. Why don't you, woman, appreciate it?!"
Seeing that Wang was still blaming him, Qi Jiguang said something, sat up from the couch and staggered outside: "I'm too lazy to pay attention to you!"
Seeing that he could actually get out of bed, Mrs. Wang was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly chased after him. She inserted the gold hairpin into her hair and supported him: "If you don't want to make people worry, please get up and tell me!"
Qi Jiguang ignored Mrs. Wang, like an angry child, he just turned his face to the other side and shook Mrs. Wang's hand away.
At this time, the three sons Qi Changguo, Qi Baoguo, Qi Xingguo and Qi Jiguang, who were also waiting here, saw Qi Jiguang and Wang coming out. They stood up and stood with their hands in hand, looking happy.
Qi Xingguo smiled and asked, "Father, you are feeling better now. Do you want to send the medical officer to check your pulse for confirmation?"
"It was supposed to be great, but I was so angry with someone that I felt tight in my chest. I don't know if it's healed or not. Anyway, it will be better if that person is no longer in front of me."
Qi Jiguang said angrily at this time.
Qi Changguo, Qi Baoguo, and Qi Xingguo were all stunned. They didn't understand who Qi Jiguang was talking about.
Mrs. Wang threw Qi Jiguang to Qi Changguo to support her, while she strode across the threshold with her skirt in hand, and walked out with a cold face:
"Okay, I'm leaving!"
"Who cares about looking at you every day?"
Seeing that Mrs. Wang was really angry and couldn't bear it, Qi Jiguang hurriedly shouted: "Madam, wait a minute, I'm not targeting you!"
But Wang was already far away at this time.
Qi Changguo, Qi Baoguo, and Qi Xingguo buried their heads lower, all worried that Qi Jiguang was targeting them.
"Why don't you speak?"
When Qi Jiguang saw that the air suddenly became quiet, he asked his third son.
Then, Qi Jiguang took the initiative to ask Qi Changguo: "How are you and people like Zhao Shizhen doing with the steam engine?"
Seeing Qi Jiguang asking him, Qi Changguo couldn't help but feel glad that his father was not targeting him, so he replied: "We are making a new cylinder."
"I don't understand either, but if you really do it well, I think you can use less manpower, and then maybe more people will support Xinli."
Qi Jiguang said.
"Father said so!"
Then, Qi Jiguang asked Qi Baoguo: "Are Hu Shouren and the others coming?"
"As father expected, Hu Shouren, Wu Weizhong, Chen Wenliang, Wang Rulong, and Luo Shangzhi all came to visit you when they learned that you were sick!"
Qi Baoguo also breathed a sigh of relief and replied.
Qi Jiguang said: "Go and ask them to come!"
"yes!"
Then, Qi Jiguang asked Qi Xingguo: "How are you doing, Your Highness?"
Qi Xingguo cupped his hands and replied: "Fortunately, I asked my son to send a message asking my father to take good care of himself."
"Your Highness is worried. Go back and tell her that I am much better."
Qi Jiguang said.
"yes!"
Not long after, Hu Shouren, Wu Weizhong, Chen Wenliang, Wang Rulong, Luo Shangzhi and other Qi Jiguang's old troops came to Qi Jiguang's place.
Qi Jiguang looked at these people and smiled and said: "Many of you are now generals, and some of you have transferred to civilian positions and become officials of the Six Departments, but you still remember to come to see me, which shows that you are affectionate people."
"Of course we dare not forget the kindness of the former Prime Minister."
At this time, Hu Shouren said something first.
Qi Jiguang said: "You came to see me because you are worried that if I really die and the Prime Minister becomes Marquis Ningyuan, the northern troops will outnumber the southern troops, right?"
Hu Shouren, Wu Weizhong and others looked at each other.
Hu Shouren said again: "As the Prime Minister expected, I have found out that behind the appearance of the demon book, people from the Northern Army Ning Yuanhou were at work. They don't want the Prime Minister to stay in this position for too long! In recent years, the imperial court has always used soldiers. They mainly used southern troops, which made them lose a lot of military merit, and they felt that it was because the prime minister deliberately took care of our southern troops."
"Don't mention the matter of catching wind and shadow. Marquis Ning Yuan is not that despicable person. He did such a dirty thing in order to bring down me, Qi Jiguang."
Qi Jiguang waved his hand and said.
"yes!"
Qi Jiguang then said: "Have you all seen His Majesty's edict?"
Hu Shouren replied: "I saw it."
Wu Weizhong also said: "The Emperor is wise and benevolent. This move will undoubtedly make those villains who want to restore the old rites have nowhere to go!"
Qi Jiguang nodded: "It's good to see it!"
"It is because of His Majesty's wisdom and kindness."
"So, you must be absolutely loyal to His Majesty and don't do anything to disappoint His Majesty!"
"Your Majesty can protect me like this today, and he will be able to protect you like this in the future. Therefore, if the day comes that I leave, don't worry, and always remember that Your Majesty is wise!"
"Of course, now that I have not left, you must also be loyal to His Majesty. Don't really think that I am more important than Your Majesty. Without me, your sky will not fall, but without Your Majesty, your innocence may indeed collapse."
Qi Jiguang continued.
Hu Shouren and others nodded: "We understand!"
Zhu Yijun's edict indeed had a great motivating effect on New Party officials.
Because this edict really lifted the knot in the minds of many New Party officials, blaming old mistakes on Old Li.
But this edict also made the scholar-bureaucrats who secretly restored the old ritual system very angry.
"How can you blame Jiuli for everything!"
"Wu Temple pretended that the generals were disrupting the official system. Shimiao Immortal asked, Mu Temple was addicted to wine and sex. Is it because of the old etiquette?"
"Strict regulations are harmful to the country. Xu Huating's indulgence in amassing wealth is also a violation of old etiquette?"
"But why did the old rites ever advocate that the king, father, and ministers could do this?"
At this time, Bai Xuanxuan complained angrily to Cai Guozhen, dissatisfied with Zhu Yijun's behavior of directly blaming the old mistakes of the New Party and even the faults of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty on the old rituals.
Because it is equivalent to blatantly telling the world that it was not the people at that time who were bad, but the etiquette and laws at that time. It was the old etiquette and laws established based on Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism that had been popular since the Southern Song Dynasty that were out of date.
Therefore, any wrong people or things before Wanli ten years are all due to wrong etiquette.
This makes Bai Xuan very vulnerable.
Cai Guozhen couldn't bear it, and said with gritted teeth: "This is digging up the roots of the old etiquette! Any powerful bureaucrat who doesn't want to be held accountable by the court for his past mistakes will pinch his nose and admit that it is the old etiquette that is wrong, not others!"
"Then what can we do to deal with it?"
Bai Xuan asked.
Cai Guozhen stood up and sighed: "I can't think of any countermeasures for the moment!"
"Today, Zhang Taiyue taught me that he is really too smart. He always uses people's hearts to create intrigues and always comes up with new opinions on some people and things. Now it is even more unprecedented to say that people are wrong because of the trends of the times. Your etiquette and thinking are wrong!”
"Since ancient times, once a dynasty has changed and the reasons have been analyzed, it must have been attributed to the lack of morality of the monarchs and ministers and the lack of ethics of the court. But now, as soon as this edict is issued, doesn't it mean that if another dynasty in the future perishes, it will not be due to the lack of ethics of the monarchs and ministers and the lack of ethics of the court. Is it caused by something wrong with the Tao itself?"
"This is enlightening the people's wisdom!"
"The consequences will be dire!"
"Once people have such wisdom, and when the world is in great trouble, they will not just blame one or two foolish kings and traitorous ministers, but will directly hold the saints and etiquette to account. If this person is bad, it means that there is a problem with etiquette and law. , it is really no less than Wang Anshi’s three deficiencies!”
"If we let him continue to preach, I really don't know how many saints will be lifted up and then abandoned!"
Bai Xuanxuan said with a serious face.
Cai Guozhen said: "But there is nothing you and I can do about it! The only thing we have to do now is to burn the books quickly!"
"Burn books?"
"What books to burn?"
Bai Xuanxuan hurriedly looked at Cai Guozhen and asked.
Cai Guozhen said: "Burn books and articles, especially engravings, that record and slander the nation's meritorious figures. They must be burned! Don't let anyone discover it, otherwise the family will be destroyed. After all, the edict has been issued. Once caught, It’s not about killing without teaching. Once the people of the world are enlightened, they will only support the court in doing so. They may even think that the court’s punishment is not harsh enough and will only call for anyone suspected of such a case to be punished by more than beheading per capita! So we have to burn it quickly!”
"But it would be a shame to burn it!"
"Especially those engravings are not easy to make."
Bai Xuan was not very willing, and after thinking about it, he took the initiative and suggested:
"Is it possible to preserve some of the engravings recording the misdeeds of the New Party, transport them to Jiangnan and hide them, and then take them out and print them when there is an opportunity in the future?"
"After all, there are many people and books in Jiangnan. Even if Jinyiwei wants to investigate seriously, even if he sends 100,000 people to investigate, they may not be as easy to find as in the capital city."
"what ever!"
"I can burn them all if I can, so that the Jin Yiwei can't find them!"
Cai Guozhen first threw a book on his bedside that was written about Shen Shixing's misdeeds into the brazier, then he threw a book that smeared Hai Rui into the brazier, and finally he just picked them up and threw them into the brazier. laughed:
"Let the imperial guards investigate! We will never find out who wants to restore the old etiquette, who conceals his identity as an old party member in the court, and does the things of the new party, and only waits for the future to change and restore the old etiquette!"
For a moment, the fire in the brazier burned very brightly, lighting up the faces of Cai Guozhen and Bai Xuanxuan.
"It's okay for you to do this, but I decided to select a batch of engravings and transport them back to the south of the Yangtze River to hide them. This will prevent me from having no books to check the misdeeds of the new party when I restore the old rites and rewrite the history of the country in order to take power in the future!"
Bai Xuanxuan started talking at this time, and then looked at Cai Guozhen attentively.
Cai Guozhen didn't say much. He just left the house in a sedan with Bai Xuanxuan, and decided to search in major bookstores to see if he could find books that basically dealt with the propaganda of the bad deeds of people who had made great contributions to the country and the nation, and dedicated them to the court. , to show that he is a firm New Party official.
When Cai Guozhen left the mansion, Hu Shouren, who had become the governor of Beizhi, also left the official compound after visiting Qi Jiguang.
(End of chapter)
