In the Shen University Scholar's Mansion, Wang Xijue was so angry that he almost lost his usual demeanor as a prime minister, and would gnash his teeth and reprimand him from time to time.
Shen Shixing himself also had a face as dark as water, and his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. If it weren't for his natural good temper, he would probably have to scold him now.
The servants had known for a long time that the atmosphere was not right, so they all took the opportunity to run away for fear of hearing something they shouldn't hear or knowing something they shouldn't know. Now there was no one around the study, except for two people. The husbands were each angry.
Wang Xijue turned around for a while and couldn't help but said: "No, this matter must not be let go like this. Gao Rixin has not hesitated to embarrass us even before he joined the cabinet. We must not allow him to be so presumptuous!" "
Shen Shixing sighed deeply, shook his head and said: "The truth is easy to say, but the matter is difficult to handle! We are now facing such a dilemma. One step to the left is a cliff, one step to the right is a cliff. If you are not careful, you will be shattered into pieces. Such a situation. What can I do?"
"I have just carefully considered this matter and feel that there are still doubts about this matter." Wang Xijue suddenly stood still and said with piercing eyes: "Yuanfu, think about it, Gao Wu was originally his uncle and brother, and he followed his instructions and left with his crown. This It's understandable; Wang Zhizhen's relationship with him is far away, so he just resigned without taking up the title. He is still waiting for the emperor's reply, which means that his resignation cannot be said to be very firm... which is also reasonable. .
But, why is Yang Wudi so honest and resigned just as the heavenly official says? In the past few years in the court, although his reputation has been greatly reduced because he listened to Gao Rixin in everything and had no independent opinions, at least he did not suffer much impeachment. Since the position of Tianguan is still quite secure, why can Gao Rixin convince him to leave immediately? Isn't there something fishy here? "
Shen Shixing pondered for a moment and asked, "Even if there is something fishy, what can we do now?"
Wang Xijue was startled: "What do you mean by 'what can I do'? A dignified heavenly official just resigns because of his secret talk with Gao Rixin. This is a taboo in itself. It is treating the court's laws as nothing and keeping the affairs of the world private. Give and take!”
"How can there be any 'granting and receiving'?" Shen Shixing spread his hands: "Did Gao Rixin say that he wanted to be this heavenly official? Or did he recommend his own person to be this heavenly official? None.
He did not express any opinions on the vacant position of Heavenly Official at all, and even happened to accept the invitation behind closed doors because of an inconsequential impeachment. This was a wonderful move. After he closed the door and thanked guests, no matter what happened in the court during this period, he could just ignore it and pretend he didn't know anything about it. "
"Only a three-year-old child would believe that he is thanking guests behind closed doors!" Wang Xijue said bitterly: "He has some kind of internal affairs department in Beijing. It is rumored that this department is even more powerful than in the past when factory guards were rampant. Although there are no prison sentences, etc. But I am afraid he is even better at probing information and passing on information than the factory guard of the past... What is the difference between him closing the door and opening the door?"
"There is a difference. The difference is that as long as he does this, we can only think that he will just close the door and thank guests." Shen Shixing said with a bitter face: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs and other things, no matter how fierce the rumors are, then There is no way to talk about it on the stage. He is completely following the rules now. Even if we want to fight back, we can only do it according to the rules."
Wang Xijue snorted hard, sat down, stared and said: "What he is doing now is that he would rather lose his own money than let others make a small profit. I can't swallow this breath. In my opinion , the inside story of Yang Wudi’s resignation must be investigated no matter what.”
"I don't object to checking. The question is how to check, and what to do after checking." Shen Shixing moved his butt slightly, changed his posture and leaned slightly towards Wang Xijue, and said: "Brother Yuan Yu, you I also know that according to the practice of our dynasty, a high-ranking official like Yang Wudi, unless he has committed a serious crime such as treason or deceiving the emperor, can almost be settled by resigning from office.
Now that he has resigned, even if there were any mistakes or problems before, they are now settled and should not and cannot be pursued. If we insist on pursuing the case now, we are afraid that not only will no one respond, but we will be attacked by a group of people. "
Wang Xijue was speechless for a moment. Of course he understands this truth. As Shen Shixing said, nothing will happen if something happens to a high-ranking civil servant. Unless there is rebellion or rebellion or something, otherwise the big thing will be reduced to a trivial one. Resigning from office is like avoiding death. It's like a gold medal. As long as the person involved resigns, you don't have to worry about anything. At most, you can just pat your butt and go home.
Lower-level civil servants may be dealt with slightly more severely. For example, for those officials who acted as imperial censors, it is not uncommon for them to be demoted and dismissed from office. Some may even be exiled for three thousand miles, but this is usually the heaviest punishment. .
Only a very few people were beaten to death by the emperor's court or imprisoned to wait for death in a very specific period of time. For example, there were more such things during the Jiajing period, but not at all during the Longqing period. Today, after Emperor Wanli took office, no one was beaten to death, but a few were imprisoned - and they were imprisoned for being high-minded and pragmatic.
Compared with the founding period of the founding of the People's Republic of China, when the noble military ministers did not regard civil servants as human beings at all, the special treatment given to civil servants today is hard-earned. Therefore, the entire civil servant group cherishes it very much and firmly maintains it.
Under such circumstances, if the dignified Heavenly Official is still held accountable for this and that, or even by his fellow civil servants, after he leaves office, it will undoubtedly cause an uproar throughout the entire court. Even if the person to be held accountable is a certain cabinet elder, he will still not be forgiven by the civil officials.
This is the welfare of the entire civil service group. As a member of the group, you do not cherish or protect it, and even actively destroy it. Where is your position?
This nature is no different from "self-isolation from the people"!
So when Shen Shixing said this, even Wang Xijue could only respond silently. But he was unwilling to remain silent. He thought for a while and then said: "No, after we find out the matter, we don't necessarily have to target Yang Wudi. Why will we be attacked by a group?"
His eyes flashed, he tapped the armrest of the Grand Master's chair with his finger, and said with certainty: "Based on my understanding of Gao Rixin, what happened this time was that he used money to bribe Yang Wudi, so that Yang Wudi was willing to give up his position as a heavenly official. In this case, as long as the truth is found out, it can be said that Gao Rixin secretly manipulated the affairs and pushed all the blame on Gao Rixin.
As for Yang Wudi, we can even hint to the person who is impeached by Shangshu and help him plead for mercy and say some good words... Well, let's just say that Gao Rixin is powerful, and he knows that he can't stop it, so he has no choice but to let it go. In this way, even if Yang Wudi is somewhat responsible, it is no longer enough to be held accountable, and we can escape the adverse consequences. "
This idea was obviously much more reasonable, and Shen Shixing couldn't help but feel a little moved. He no longer expressed objections, and just asked: "But how can this matter be verified? For such an important matter, the person who handles it will not say that it does not exist, but even if it does, it must be extremely serious." He must be a close confidant of Gao Rixin. We and others say that we don’t even know who this person is. Even if we knew, I’m afraid it would be difficult to get any clues or inside stories from his mouth.”
Wang Xijue smiled and said: "Since Beijing has the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it will be even more difficult for us to find clues from Gao Rixin. However, even if we can't follow the clues, can't we follow the clues? Vine?"
"Following the clues?" Shen Shixing was startled for a moment, then he immediately realized what he was doing and asked thoughtfully: "Brother Yuan Yu said that he wanted to find out information from Yang Wudi?"
Shen Yuanfu frowned and said hesitantly: "I'm afraid this won't be easy, right? Yang Wudi is not a fledgling. He was born in Dingwei Jinban (Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing), earlier than you and me. He studied five subjects, and he was the same year as Zhang Jiangling. Not to mention his seniority, he has been a foreign official for most of his life. What kind of storms and waves have he not seen? I am afraid that if we want to get the news from him..."
"Why does it have to come from his mouth?" Wang Xijue spread his hands: "According to Gao Rixin's habit, he will either give money directly or give dividends from certain businesses. No matter how he gives it, it will definitely make Yang The family's wealth suddenly increased significantly.
I have some understanding of the situation in Yang Wudi's family. They are neither poor nor rich. His family owns 4,000 to 5,000 acres of land, which is considered to be among the best in the area. But that's all. It doesn't have much involvement in business. It only has three or five shops in prefectures and counties. "
"So what?" Shen Shixing didn't understand what Wang Xijue meant.
Wang Xijue, as the richest man in Suzhou and most likely the richest man in the South, was much better at these things than Shen Shixing. He immediately said with a smile: "Even if a wealthy family has tens of thousands of gold, the family will hardly be different from the past; an ordinary family will not be the same as before. If you get a windfall, you are afraid that your whole family, old and young, will suddenly become arrogant."
Shen Shixing suddenly realized: "Oh, Brother Yuan Yu is saying that if Yang Wudi really accepted a large sum of money from Gao Rixin, the whole family would be arrogant because of their sudden wealth... at least they should buy a lot of land and houses."
Wang Xijue just nodded, but Shen Shixing frowned again and said: "But what if Gao Rixin gave him shares in some transactions? This may not allow Yang Wudi to get much cash immediately. Brother Yuan Yu expected The situation may not happen."
"Well..." Wang Xijue frowned, feeling a little tricky.
But Shen Shixing added: "Not only that, I have another worry: Yang Wudi is old in officialdom, and he is not known for seeking wealth, even if he did not tell his clan members about Gao Rixin's loss.
Although he himself is famous for his poetry, several of his descendants are poor at writing and are just mediocre people. If he keeps the money or dividends secret and waits until he is old, sick and about to die to reveal everything, we can't wait forever, can we? "
This was indeed a big trouble, but something in his words reminded Wang Xijue, who suddenly said with bright eyes, "Thanks to Yuan Fu for reminding me, I might have gone astray just now! "
Shen Shixing said in astonishment: "Brother Yuan Yu, what do you mean by this?"
Wang Xijue immediately replied: "Just now Yuan Fu mentioned that all Yang Wudi's descendants are mediocre... Yuan Fu, let's put ourselves in Yang Wudi's shoes and think about it: If I am already seventy-five years old, but my descendants are unworthy, Everyone is mediocre, what should I do as a father?"
There was something wrong with Wang Xijue's question. He forgot to consider the difference between Shen Shixing's background and his own. Wang Xijue's family is extremely wealthy, so it is normal to consider the affairs of his descendants, and usually try to support his descendants in studying and becoming officials - anyway, the family has fertile land and numerous properties, so even if they become a prodigal, they will probably never be completely ruined.
But Shen Shixing is completely different from him. There is still no "official" statement about his life experience. Shen Shixing himself is also very secretive and has never been willing to talk about it, so that there are two versions circulating in the outside world today.
Folk saying is that the Shen family is also a wealthy family in Suzhou. Shen Shixing's father and his wife had a bad relationship. Once, he accompanied his wife to a nunnery to offer incense. Unexpectedly, he fell in love at first sight with a beautiful nun in the nunnery. Later, The two had an affair and gave birth to Shen Shixing.
After giving birth, the nun wanted to send the child back to the Shen family to recognize his ancestors, but the Shen family was a wealthy family anyway, and even because of the family's reputation, it was impossible to recognize the illegitimate child. In desperation, the nun abandoned the child on the streets of Suzhou, wrote a letter in blood with the child's birth time and life experience, and placed it in the baby's body.
The child's cry was discovered by a kind person, so he reported it to the authorities. Xu Shangzhen, the then magistrate of Suzhou, was shocked when he heard the news and decided to try the case personally. However, as the old saying goes, it is difficult for upright officials to stop family affairs. In this era, there was no DNA testing. The Shen family insisted on denying it. A blood letter alone was obviously insufficient evidence.
Reluctantly, Magistrate Xu thought about it and felt that the child was the most pitiable, so he adopted the child as his adopted son and named him Xu Shixing. Later, Xu Shixing was the top scholar in high school and his status was so high that the entire Shen family was not as "valuable" as him, so he was able to recognize his ancestors and return to the family line, and changed his surname back to Shen.
One more thing: Shen Shixing's recognition of his ancestors and return to his clan was not really ungrateful in terms of the ethics and morals of the time, because recognizing his ancestors and returning to his clan is the most important thing for a person. In the same way, being kicked out, not allowed to be buried in ancestral graves, and not allowed to offer spiritual tablets in ancestral temples is the greatest punishment for a person. It is equivalent to "You are a beast without a father and a mother. God hates you and abandons you!"
Moreover, it is said that the old magistrate Xu was also very broad-minded and very supportive of Shen Shixing's recognition of his ancestors. Therefore, this incident was even a good story in Suzhou at that time and was praised by everyone.
In addition, the second theory comes from Shen Shixing's family tree, which says that his grandfather adopted his uncle and changed his surname to Xu, taking his uncle's surname. Therefore, Shen's grandfather and father are both surnamed Xu. Of course, the surname is Xu.
But for the same reason, if Shen Shixing won the first prize in the exam, his status would be completely different. According to the customs at the time, it was also right to recognize one's ancestors and return to the clan.
But no matter which statement is true, Shin Shixing definitely did not have a very satisfactory life when he was young. Needless to say, the latter, even if it is the former, it is not that Magistrate Xu has no biological son in his family. Even if Magistrate Xu is broad-minded and cares about him, can other people in the family do the same? Therefore, as an adopted son, he must live in trepidation.
People with different family backgrounds must have different ideas, so Shen Shixing was just a little startled after hearing these words, and replied casually: "Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, so don't be a horse or a cow for your children and grandchildren. If they are ineffective, I won't think more about it." usefulness."
Wang Xijue did not expect this answer, so he was stunned for a moment, but he immediately said with a wry smile: "How many people in the world are as open-minded as Yuan Fu? Mr. Kuang was born in Hanlin, so there is no need to worry." [Note: It refers to Shen Shixing's eldest son Shen Yongmao, who ranked 21st among the top two Jinshi in the eleventh year of Wanli, and was selected as a shuji scholar to enter the Hanlin Academy. ]
Speaking of this, Shen Shixing remembered the thorn in Wang Xijue's heart. There is only one legitimate son of Wang Xijue, named Wang Heng. He is talented and writes extremely well. In the sixteenth year of Wanli, he won the first place in the Shuntian Provincial Examination.
However, after that exam, he was attacked inexplicably. It must be that his poor performance was because Wang Xijue was an important minister of the imperial court. Wang Xijue, who had a strong temper and excellent reputation, was so angry that he argued forcefully as if he was swearing to heaven and earth. On the other hand, he ordered his son to give up the opportunity to continue to participate in the examination and continue to study behind closed doors.
Speaking of which, Wang Heng's experience was somewhat similar to that of Gao Pragmatic, except that Gao Pragmatic was more proactive and refused to try in order to avoid suspicion.
According to the original history, Wang Heng did not take part in the examination in the 29th year of Wanli until his father became an official. It turned out that he was really talented, and he got second place in the exam. As a result, the Wang family had "three Jinshis in one subject, and both father and son were in the second place." Wang Xijue's younger brother Wang Dingjue was also a Jinshi scholar, and he also did very well in the examination: Fifth, ninth in the palace examination.
Therefore, now is the period when Wang Heng is bored at home and cannot take exams, so he is naturally in a bad mood. Even Wang Xijue is very angry when he thinks about this.
Shen Shixing hurriedly comforted him: "Chen Yu (Wang Heng) is as talented as you and me, so why worry about not being able to win the gold medal in the future? As for now... Brother Yuan Yu just thinks of it as tempering his character, but that may not be the case. bad thing."
Wang Xijue sighed softly, waved his hand and said: "Let's not mention this matter anymore. Let me continue: Although the descendants of this kind of family are mediocre, they have no big faults. If I were the father, I would probably find a backer for them. . Even if I can’t get into officialdom, I will at least think about preserving my family fortune, so..."
"Oh!" Shen Shixing suddenly realized and his eyes lit up: "Brother Yuan Yu means that Gao Rixin will accept Yang Wudi's children and grandchildren as his disciples, and will take care of them from now on, whether they are studying or doing business?"
Wang Xijue stroked his beard and smiled: "Exactly."
Shen Shixing thought for a while, frowned and said, "Who is the magistrate of Haifeng County now?"
Haifeng is Wudi. Ming history records: All prefectures and counties were abolished in the early years of Hongwu, and Haifeng County was established in June of the sixth year of Hongwu (another old county record records: Wudi changed Haifeng on the fourth day of September in the fourth year of Jianwen in the Ming Dynasty), because the county has the sea Fengxiang, named after Haifengchang in the northwest, belonged to Binzhou at first and later to Le'an Prefecture.
In the first year of Xuande's reign, Le'an Prefecture was changed to Wuding Prefecture, which followed. Since the name of this place changed during the Ming Dynasty, and it has been called Wudi since ancient times, both locals and outsiders are more accustomed to calling it Wudi.
However, as soon as Shen Shixing opened his mouth, Wang Xijue immediately waved his hand: "It will definitely not work to let the local magistrate check it. Not to mention that the magistrates in Beidi are mostly scholars from the north list. Even if the scholars from the south list come to Beidi, there are still many scholars who are educated. Influencers can no longer be trusted.”
He paused for a moment, narrowed his eyes slightly, and twirled his beard and said, "Why not let Dongchang do this? Our Director Zhang Dachang is so angry right now that he has nowhere to vent his anger."
Shen Shixing laughed when he heard the words: "Good, great good!"
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