Daming talker

Chapter 767 I am the person involved

More than a month later, the coffin of Wang Shizhen, the leader of the literary world and Minister of Personnel, was escorted back to Yanyuan in Taicang Prefecture by his two sons Wang Shiqi and Wang Shiqi.

Also coming with them was Hu Yinglin, the successor of Wang the old leader in literary criticism. However, Hu Yinglin's most important identity now became a retainer of the Prime Minister's fellow townsman.

Almost all the literary circles in Jiangzuo came out to Taicang Prefecture to pay their respects.

The funeral affairs were presided over by Lin Tailai himself, and Lin Tailai was naturally officially "crowned" as the leader of the literary world.

Everyone knows that with the deaths of Wang Shizhen, Wu Guolun, Wang Daokun and Xu Wenchang, there will only be one voice in the literary world from now on.

Looking ahead to the hegemony of this leader Lin in the literary world, I am afraid that he will be even more powerful than the retro school in its heyday.

After all, the retro-styled faction can only eliminate heresy in the literary world, but it can't do much in politics. Even if scholars don't care about the retro-styled faction, they still have other ways out.

Leader Lin can not only drive out people in the literary world, but also kill people in the officialdom. He also has the ability to project hundreds of thugs thousands of miles away to smash the windows of other people's houses. His dominance over the literary world has increased exponentially compared to the retro faction.

Hu Yinglin, who came from the capital, accompanied Lin Tailai out of Yanyuan and asked, "Does your Excellency have any suggestions for the next official of the Ministry of Personnel?"

This was obviously an inquiry made on behalf of Prime Minister Zhao and the Beijing Renewal Society. In the butterfly effect, everyone was changing, and Hu Yinglin was no longer the pedant who only knew how to study "Climbing the High Mountain is the best seven-character poem of ancient and modern times."

After thinking for a while, Lin Tailai said, "If there is no more suitable candidate, then let Shen Yikuan take over."

There are four main reasons. First, Shen Yikuan's rise to power came from Prime Minister Shen, who had a reliable background and a clean heritage.

Second, Shen Yikuan was old enough that he could barely hold his own against the veteran members of the Qingliu Party in the battle for the position of Tianguan in the Ministry of Personnel, thus making up for the shortcoming of the Lin Party's serious lack of elderly figures.

Third, history has proven that Shen Yikuan and the Qingliu Party members really can’t get along.

Fourth, in history, Shen Yikuan’s fighting ability was pretty good. He was able to fight back and forth with the Donglin Party, and finally died together with the Donglin Party leader Shen Li.

At this time, a small group of people gathered under the weeping willows on the roadside outside the gate of Yanyuan.

Lin Tailai took a casual look and his face darkened because he saw his nominal master Zhang Youyu in the center of the crowd.

I saw Teacher Zhang wearing mourning clothes - a female version, sitting on the ground, beating a small drum, and chanting some sutra.

Several servants of the Wang family stood by and watched Teacher Zhang's performance art, feeling helpless.

Suddenly someone nearby said, "I heard that when you and Zhang Youyu were in Suzhou City, they were both called Zhang Dian Lin Kuang?"

Hu Yinglin was horrified. Who was so brave to talk about Lin Tailai's dark history in front of him? It was simply irrelevant!
Turning around to look at the direction of the voice, it turned out that the person speaking was the former cabinet minister Wang Xijue. He was also a native of Taicang, so it was not surprising that he appeared here.

Lin Tailai took a deep breath and replied, "This is not my dark history, this is how I got here."

Zhang Youyu also saw Lin Tailai and waved to him. Lin Tailai had no choice but to walk over and greet him.

"Do you think your Master is sincere and free today? Do you have a temperament that shows you have transcended life and death and have attained great enlightenment?" Zhang Youyu asked.

Lin Tailai responded sincerely, "Teacher, when you show off in public in the future, don't mention my name, and don't say that I am your student, okay?"

Zhang Youyu: "?"

Why does this sentence sound familiar? It seems like I've seen it in a novel before.

The death of a civil servant official would inevitably trigger a major chain reaction in the court politics.

More than a month later, news came back from the capital that Shen Yikuan, Vice Minister of Rites and President of the Hanlin Academy, took over as Minister of Personnel.

But at the same time, Chen Younian, a senior member of the Qingliu Party and the former Langzhong of the Ministry of Selection, had completed his seniority and was promoted from the post of Governor to the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is the result of a game of interests.

Another surprising thing is that Grand Secretary Li Chun no longer holds the position of Minister of Rites, and the veteran Left Vice Minister of Rites Zhao Yongxian has been promoted to the position.

For reasons that are well known to all, no one has been willing to be the Minister of Rites in the past two years, so the position has been held concurrently by Grand Secretary Li Chun.

Perhaps the emperor was also happy to see this happen, so Grand Secretary Li Chun took on the concurrent post of Minister of Rites, which meant that he was tied to the position of Minister of Rites.

The Qingliu Party, as the main force fighting for the country's foundation, became more cautious, fearing that they would depose Grand Secretary Li Chun, who was closely tied to the Minister of Rites.

After all, the Minister of Rites is the focal figure in the dispute over the national foundation, a position that is unavoidable. Others can hide, but the Minister of Rites cannot.

As for Zhao Yongxian, after the "broken engagement" incident was hyped, his morals were tarnished, so he remained in the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites for many years and had no hope of promotion.

However, this change happened suddenly unexpectedly, and Zhao Yongxian took over the position of Minister of Rites from Li Chun.

I don’t know what others think, but Lin Tailai has a hunch that the Qingliu Party members who have been dormant for a long time are about to cause trouble.

Perhaps the Qingliu Party members had already made it clear that Lin Tailai would probably not return to the capital in the near future, so they became restless.

After all, as a force, if it does not take action for a long time, people's hearts will be dispersed over time.

As for what the Qingliu Party was going to do, Lin Tailai could guess a little bit, it must be to cause trouble for the country.

As long as the sacrifices are controlled, is there anything better than making trouble in the country to establish a moral high ground and rally people's morale?
The purpose of appointing Zhao Yongxian, who had little potential for advancement, as the Minister of Rites was to let him hold high the banner of justice, while at the same time sacrificing himself as cannon fodder.

Lin Tailai said he didn't care, because the one who was worried was Emperor Wanli.
In fact, some people are worried that if they don’t actively fight for the foundation of the country now, they will not be able to grab the “merit of supporting the throne”. What will happen when the prince ascends the throne in the future?
The Qingliu Party members fought for the foundation of the country. In addition to seizing the right to speak on morality, they also wanted to make contributions in supporting the country.

Lin Tailai didn't care about this. If nothing unexpected happened, Emperor Wanli could live for another 26 years, and it would be too early for him to realize his credit for supporting him.

Even if something unexpected happened, and the prince had a brain seizure after ascending the throne, then Lin Tailai, in addition to the temple's open conspiracies, also knew a little about palace conspiracies.

All in all, Lin Tailai today can look at these minor affairs in the government from a more detached perspective.

The foundation laid in the past few years was very good, the framework structure of the Lin Party was stable, and the combat effectiveness of the characters selected based on historical experience was pretty good, so Lin Tailai didn't have to worry about the details.

However, the successive deaths of six celebrities still had some impact on Lin Tailai's mood at home.

On the one hand, I often think about the philosophy of my own existence. Am I, a time traveler, considered to be reborn after death?

If we regard this world as a game, and myself as the time traveler is like a GM with partial modification authority, then for this world, am I equivalent to a disguised god?
On the other hand, Lin Tailai was preparing to compile a personal collection of essays. The name had already been chosen: "Half Life Collection", which would include all his written works, not just poetry.

That day, Lin Tailai was sitting in his study thinking about whether he should list the epitaphs he wrote this year as a separate entry in "Half Life Collection".

The retainer Zhou Daodeng reported: "Mr. Xu from Songjiang Prefecture is here to visit."

Lin Tailai asked blankly, "Who is this Mr. Xu?"

Zhou Daodeng replied, "It is Xu Guangqi, who is in Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture. The Lord owns 5,000 acres of land, and Xu Guangqi is the one who manages the manor."

Lin Tailai suddenly realized that it seemed to be true!

Over the years, there have been too many historical celebrities who have been promoted and used casually. It is normal for some people who do not often show up to be forgotten. If Zhou Daodeng had not reminded him, Lin Tailai would have even forgotten that he still had 5,000 acres of land in Huating, Songjiang Prefecture.

When he saw Xu Guangqi was poor and destitute in Songjiang Prefecture, he let Xu Guangqi manage the farm.

Xu Guangqi is currently an unimportant figure within the Lin Group, so Lin Tailai first asked Zhou Daodeng, "What is Xu Guangqi doing here?"

If it's nothing serious, don't waste your energy meeting him.

Zhou Daodeng reported: "Xu Guangqi said that when he was studying in Nanjing, he met a great scholar who came from the far west thousands of miles away.

This great scholar is proficient in mathematics, astronomy and geography, which are of particular importance to the prince, so I would like to introduce him to the prince. "

Lin Tailai: "."

What great Western scholar is that? Isn’t it Matteo Ricci?
Is the inertia of history so strong? He had already sent Xu Guangqi to be a village head, so how could he still get to know Matteo Ricci?

At this time, Matteo Ricci had been ordered to come to China to preach for more than ten years and should have been in Nanjing. He then tried his best to get to know scholars and officials from all walks of life and look for opportunities to preach.

It would not be surprising that Xu Guangqi came into contact with Matteo Ricci if he went to Nanjing to study.

It is even possible that Matteo Ricci wanted to visit him on his own initiative, after all, his fame was there.

Lin Tailai, who was bored at home, became somewhat interested, so he sent a message to Xu Guangqi to bring Matteo Ricci directly over.

The next day, Xu Guangqi arrived at the gate of Lin's mansion with a foreigner who was wearing scholar's robes, a Dongpo scarf on his head, but had a high nose, deep eyes and a big beard.

There is no need to guess that it is Matteo Ricci. After more than ten years in China, Matteo Ricci has learned Chinese, and he dresses completely like Chinese in his daily life, calling himself a Western Confucian.

Xu Guangqi nervously told Matteo Ricci: "You must be careful and cautious, and never offend the prince, otherwise you will have no place to stay in the Ming Dynasty."

Matteo Ricci also nodded cautiously. Of course, he had done his homework before and knew the strength of this Marquis Lin.

According to his understanding, it was roughly equivalent to the Duke of Venice plus the Duke of Lombardy? Maybe the Duke of Milan should be added?

"What kind of person is he?" asked Matteo Ricci.

Xu Guangqi replied: "I don't care what you think, as long as you treat him as a god, it's correct.

Anyway, according to the legend, he is also a deity from heaven who came down to earth, but it is hard to say which deity he is. "

Matteo Ricci: “.”

Ah! There is only one true God in the world, and that is God!

Forget it, this is the Ming Dynasty, so we should just adapt to the local customs.

Finally, Xu Guangqi emphasized: "He is used to being high and mighty and never cares about the dignity of ordinary people.

If you feel your dignity is offended, you must be patient, otherwise you will not be able to leave this mansion.

Remember, don't care about your dignity in front of him, and consider being offended as an honor."

Zhou Daodeng arrived at the gate and led Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci into the outer study, where the host Lin Tailai was waiting.

Lin Tailai had a faint smile on his face, as if he had seen some interesting toys.

At the same time, he instructed Xu Guangqi and Zhou Daodeng: "You leave for now. I will talk to Matteo Ricci alone."

Xu Guangqi was very surprised by this. Without him as a middleman, could the prince and Matteo Ricci communicate well?

But Xu Guangqi did not dare to disobey the order and could only retreat silently.

When there were only two people left in the study, Lin Tailai greeted Matteo Ricci and said, "I heard that you studied in the Jesuit Society since you were a child?"

When Matteo Ricci heard the translation "Jesus", he was overjoyed.

Because many people still follow the translation in the Tang Dynasty and transliterate the Son of Heaven as "移鼠", which is really too ugly.

The Marquis of Lin called him "Jesus", which was at least not so vulgar.

With a good start, Matteo Ricci felt much more relaxed and immediately began to introduce himself: "When I was ten years old, I entered the Jesuit Society to study and began to serve God."

"Puchi!" Lin Tailai couldn't help laughing out loud, not knowing what he was thinking about.

Matteo Ricci asked in confusion, "Why is the Marquis laughing?"

Lin Tailai said strangely, "I didn't expect you to join the church at the age of ten. Have you been blessed by the old priests? I heard that the old priests who serve the Catholic Church in the West like little boys the most."

Matteo Ricci: “.”

It seemed that Xu Guangqi had just reminded me not to care about my dignity in front of Marquis Lin, and to just treat any offense as a joke.

Lord, forgive me for hearing such blasphemies, all for the sake of missionary work in the Eastern Empire.

Forcing himself to hold back, Ricci did not want to talk about himself anymore, and asked, "Have you ever heard of us Roman Catholics, Marquis?"

Lin Tailai answered casually: "I've heard of it. Belief in God or the Lord? And the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?"

Matteo Ricci was shocked. Among all the people he had met in the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years, this young marquis who spoke blasphemous words seemed to be the one who knew the most about theology!

And he even knew about the Trinity. That’s really a lot of knowledge! It’s incredible!

Could it be that after traveling in Ming Dynasty for more than ten years, he finally found the key to open the door?
Or did the Heavenly Father see my piety and perform a miracle?

"I didn't expect that the Marquis understands us Catholics so well. Has the Marquis read the Bible?" Matteo Ricci asked excitedly.

Lin Tailai said calmly: "I don't read books like the Bible which are full of errors. I just want to tell you that the Trinity is wrong."

Matteo Ricci asked curiously, "Why did the Marquis say that?"

Lin Tailai, who has been thinking about his own philosophy of existence recently, showed a strange smile on his face again, "Because I am the person involved."

Matteo Ricci was puzzled, "The person involved?"

Lin Tailai's smile became even weirder, "God is the Father, Jesus is the Son but a younger brother!
Jesus has a brother, and that's me! He is the so-called brother in heaven!
If God, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are a trinity, then where does that put me, the heavenly brother?"

Oh shit! Matteo Ricci's brain exploded!
His eyes almost popped out, as if he had seen some extremely terrifying devil, and his face was filled with horror!
I was too happy just now. How could this be the key to open the Eastern Gate? Instead, it looked more like Satan incarnate!

It's okay for this person to offend me with blasphemous words, I can tolerate it for the sake of the overall situation!
But this person actually blasphemed God directly. Who can tell me what I should do?
According to Sharia law, such people should be arrested and burned at the stake! But I am obviously powerless!
But if I remain indifferent to this, will God send me to hell?

(End of this chapter)