Since the rise of imperial examinations in the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, people from all over the country who came to Beijing to take the examinations were often bullied by shopkeepers due to unfamiliarity with the place and other reasons. Some officials from the capital and local merchants bought houses and land in the capital, and built a place where local bureaucrats, gentry and people who took the imperial examination could live and gather.
With the passage of time, in various prosperous places, merchants began to build various types of town halls or industry halls, which became a common practice. Different from general commercial activities, most guild halls have local or industry-based exclusive behaviors - most guild halls will not accept people who are not local or from other industries.
However, those who came to the Datong Hall today had to be received. Because the people who came were not polite to him. They were not only aggressive when they came in, but they also brought handguns and waist knives, as well as iron rulers, chains, and law enforcement sticks dyed in black and red.
The leader was none other than Chen Dianli. He came in with a group of government officials so arrogantly that the owner of the guild hall was so frightened that he trotted up to him, nodded and bowed and said, "Mr. Chen, you are here to take care of it."
"Work on the case!"
Chen Dianli looked the shopkeeper up and down with his triangular eyes, his face rolled with anger, and every word he spat out from between his teeth was threatening: "There is a man named Qiao Liwei staying at your house for the past few days?"
The shopkeeper wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Are you talking about Qiao Juren? Yes, yes, I remember him. He lived here for more than a year and left on the 13th of this month. He said he was going home to celebrate the New Year."
"Take them all!"
"Hey? What did you say? What kind of rule did we break?"
Chen Dianli showed a cruel smile on his face, "He has indeed violated the laws of nature, but if you are involved in it, you will know after following me to the Yamen!"
The ensuing chaos in the Datong Guild Hall does not need to be detailed. The weeping guildkeeper, the waiter who had served Qiao Juren, and a little singer who warmed Qiao Juren's bed were packed away together by Chen Dianli, which frightened the neighbors and made them feel anxious - these days There are scenes like this everywhere in the capital.
On the twenty-third of the winter lunar month in the fifteenth year of Wanli, Wang Tong and Wang Xizhi presented a secret report of the "Longqing Party Case" to Wang Tong and Wang Xizhi who met in Wuying Palace. After Zhu Yijun read the performance, his face was as heavy as water.
After the Nantai Conference, emerging forces in the ideological circles represented by Li Zhi gradually developed and grew under the protection of Zhu Yijun. Various "retrospective schools", "humanistic schools", "humanistic schools" and other jaw-dropping theories "let a hundred flowers bloom". It's almost like "a chaotic dance of demons".
The retro school advocates "recover all the learning from hundreds of schools of thought, and benevolent kings choose the 'good' ones and use them"; the humanistic school achieves great expansion based on the theory of mind and advocates "man is the master of the universe, and there is no universe if there is no one, so all governance is It all depends on personal development"; on this basis, the humanistic school advocates that "human desire is the cause of all things" and vigorously advocates "indulgence of lust" and "personal liberation".
The ideological root of the confusion between Song Shien and his wife and layman Hongbao had its origins - in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty, these erotic "pillow box books" and pictures of erotic palaces were sold in bookstores in a grand manner, and the court was unable to ban them. In the northern capital, the spread of these ideas was also an open secret. It was not surprising that the defenders were saddened by it and even had the idea of rectifying the chaos.
Of course, just like Shen Yiguan and others who attributed the fault to the late Zhongxing Prince Zhang Juzheng, the defenders did not have the courage to attribute the source of all evil to the emperor - not because they were short-sighted, but because they were afraid that their thoughts would have the slightest influence in this regard. transfer.
Under Zhu Yijun's strong promotion, the "Wanli New Deal" became the "Wanli Reform"; he gave Zhang Juzheng the highest honor as a minister to show his determination to continue to implement the Wanli Reform; he established a new army and reformed the political system. Solving the clan problem, promoting expansion and immigration - all of this did not come from the liberation of the mind or the promotion of productivity, but was based on the "White Terror" of the Wanli Five Years, which was forcibly promoted with blood and swords.
Nowadays, the capital branches he forcibly grafted have grown stronger. Although Zhu Yijun is deep in the palace, he can feel from the reports everywhere that it is drawing nourishment from history and reality, gradually revealing its ferocious nature.
But Zhu Yijun didn't know at this time whether this beast had also embarked on the same path in time and space due to the invention of the shuttle and the textile loom, and whether the nutrients it absorbed were full of the flesh and blood of the people.
But "one leaf falls and the world knows autumn", and the "Longqing Party Case" that appeared in the court was that fallen leaf. In addition to Shen Yiguan, who was born in the same year, there were also seven people who formed an association in the next Longqing fifth year. Because they had the same political philosophy of anti-reform, this group had merged with Shen Yiguan and others who were in the Longqing second year.
As the reform progressed, this party group gradually expanded, adopting a very low-key development strategy and strictly keeping secrets. At this time, it actually grew to more than thirty people. These people are found in various ministries and departments. They usually gather to exchange news and criticize people, and they have a clear political program - the "Oath of Association" that Wang Tong read to Shen Yiguan.
In the uncovering case, Wang Tong was given an opportunity by the emperor, and his main attack direction had always been the "party" that opposed the reform. After grasping the core, the case was successfully solved.
Among the officials who were dismissed from office for opposing Zhang Juzheng's appointment as Prime Minister, one was named Qiao Zhenwei. He has a younger brother named Qiao Liwei. This person won the imperial examination and went to Beijing to take part in the fourteenth year's general examination, but he lost his name.
Although the Qiao family is not a wealthy family, it is still effortless to support the children in the family. Therefore, Qiao Liwei stayed in the capital to prepare for the next exam. He came into contact with peripheral figures of the "Longqing Party" at various cultural gatherings and social gatherings among classmates, and became one of them.
According to the opinions of these "friends", Qiao Liwei's writing is mature. His articles in the fourteen-year competition are full of flowers, and there are no points deductions for subjects such as "general knowledge and direct reference". Therefore, there is only one reason for not being on the list: Qiao Liwei was implicated by his brother Qiao Zhenwei.
Later, Qiao Liwei was recognized as the best in articles in several literary conferences, but his mentality gradually became unbalanced - no matter how good his articles were, he would never have the chance to become a Jinshi in this life. After getting into the horns, he became a little dissolute and hung around the flowers drunk all day long. Some fellow villagers in the guild hall wrote letters to inform relatives and friends at home about his condition.
Before the unveiling case occurred, a letter from Qiao's parents also arrived, urging him to return to his hometown, otherwise his expenses for staying in Beijing would be cut off. The more Qiao Liwei thought about it, the more depressed he became. Before he left, he wanted to vent his anger. Suddenly, he asked his servant to post dozens of Song Jiu's limericks in the dark.
The day after posting the unveiling, Qiao Liwei hired a carriage and left the capital. If Jin Yiwei followed the clues such as paper and ink, the case would never be solved. But Wang Tong started with the "Longqing Party" and compared the activity trajectories of all members and found that he left Beijing on the second day after the case was revealed, which was correct.
I rushed eight hundred miles to Datong, broke the house, arrested him, and of course the truth came to light.
Although the case was clarified, Zhu Yijun found it difficult - the reform policy he had set could not be wrong, but in essence it was a kind of "grafting", or a kind of "grafting the seedlings to encourage growth", and Ming Dynasty did not do it well ideologically. Preparation for entry into capitalism. Therefore, how to deal with Shen Yiguan and this group of Longqing gangsters who have not violated the law has become a big problem.
Despite Zhu Yijun's protection, the Ming Dynasty had not yet given birth to its own Montesquieu and Rousseau, and as the emperor, Zhu Yijun had no thoughts of a constitutional monarchy or a "republic."
In his grand blueprint, he himself wants to lead all mankind on a new path - judging from the outbreak of the "Longqing Party Case", he will probably have to fight against these people again and again for the rest of his life.
Without a thorough ideological transformation, it would be impossible to follow the path he envisioned. Zhu Yijun, who was in the fifteenth year of Wanli, looked at the files and was extremely convinced of this.
"Wang Xizhi, how long have you been the director of the National Security Bureau?"
Wang Tong, who had been staring at the gold bricks with his head lowered, had become accustomed to the emperor's beating. Similar words often have a similar beginning, but deep in Wang Tong's heart, he already understood that the emperor was becoming more and more dependent on him.
"It has been ten years since I took over the command of the Jinyiwei in the fifth year of Wanli. Later, the Jinyiwei was divided into the Internal Intelligence Department and the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, and I served as the director of the Internal Intelligence Department for a period. Later, the Internal Intelligence Department was changed to the National Security Bureau and the Foreign Intelligence Bureau. The bureau was changed to the Military Intelligence Bureau, and I and Liu Shou were in charge of it."
Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Tong who was kneeling and playing. The temples under his hat were already gray. Although he sent people to keep an eye on the biggest intelligence leader, he did not receive any information that he had selfish thoughts. However, as a lonely man, he never dared to pay. All trust.
"Well, I asked you to keep an eye on various places to see if there is a socialist party that promotes industry and commerce. Do you gain anything?"
"Yes. Over the years, I have been conducting careful inspections according to the emperor's assignments, and I dare not slack off. Nowadays, except for the guilds, there is no socialist party - the scholars do not speak for them.
"Um."
Wuying Hall fell into silence for a while. Wang Tong felt the mountain-like pressure again. Although he knew that because of his loyalty and diligence, the emperor's trust in him was growing day by day, but whenever this kind of silence occurred between the two of them, there was a kind of fear coming from the king. Tong's heart was surging and rolling.
"Is child labor used in various industries and businesses today?"
"Returning to the Emperor, I have not dared to slack off in the past few years in accordance with the Emperor's assignments. According to the survey, although there are factories that occasionally use child labor, most of them work for the poor in the city, and there is no abuse."
"Can I use slaves?"
Wang Tong's face turned slightly red, and he lowered his head: "Return to the Emperor. Nowadays, there are many Annan slaves and Burmese slaves. Especially Annan. I already reported it last year. In addition," his voice paused. pause.
"What?"
"I received intelligence from Guangzhou last month. There are merchants selling Kunlun slaves to the country, and there are quite a few of them. There may be thousands in the entire Jiangnan."
The expected scolding did not come, Wang Tong just heard the emperor sighing on the throne. Then I heard the emperor say to the Wei Dynasty: "I have sent an edict to Luo Wanhua and asked him to come to see him."
The Wei Dynasty bowed and went out of the palace to deliver the order. Sun Long entered the palace to serve on the team. Wang Tong was still kneeling on the ground, and the emperor seemed to be lost in thought and forgot to shout.
After a while, Wang Tong suddenly heard the emperor's voice from the throne: "Wang Tong, tell me, what is Confucius like?"
The director of the National Security Bureau was stunned by this unreasonable question. He couldn't help but want to raise his head to peek at the holy face, but he held it back for a moment, and a layer of sweat immediately broke out on his back.
But the silent air in Wuying Palace could not make him hesitate, so he said:
"Although I have little education, I think he is a good person. Well, he is very good."
