Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 296 The Three Martyrs of Fan Yang

It is obviously unusual that Wei Xuezhen's letters were specially presented by Liu Zongzhou. As Zhu Youjian read the letter, he felt that every word was filled with blood and tears.

Even he, the emperor, felt it was too miserable, let alone others. Zhu Youjian could already imagine the impact this widely circulated letter would have on scholars.

Especially the name Wei Xuezhen made him feel familiar. Relying on my strong memory, I quickly remembered that I had studied "The Nuclear Boat" written by this person.

Judging from this article, Wei Xuezhen is obviously a talented man and has great influence.

So after Zhu Youjian read it, he immediately asked Liu Zongzhou:
"Where is Wei Xuezhen?"

"Why didn't we see him get justice?"

Liu Zongzhou endured his grief and said:
"Wei Xuezhen returned to his hometown with his coffin, but the eunuchs continued to pursue the stolen goods and instructed the local officials to press hard."

"Wei Xuezhen borrowed money and begged, but was unable to repay the stolen money. He was also resentful of his father's death, and eventually died of fear."

"His younger brother Wei Xuexian heard that the eunuch party was destroyed and he wrote a letter with blood drawn from his blood. I heard from the villagers in Beijing that he will come to Beijing soon."

Zhu Youjian felt very uncomfortable when he heard this. After Wei Xuelian's arrival, the team of Huang Zongxi, Zhou Maolan, and Zuo Guangming will obviously continue to expand.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that Wei Xuezhen, a talented man who wrote "The Story of Nuclear Boat" at a young age, was persecuted to death by the eunuchs just like his father Wei Dazhong.

If I made a mistake in handling this matter, there might be a mention in the annotations of "Nuclear Boat Chronicle" in later generations.

And if you don't take a stand in the face of such a filial son's deeds, how can you win the hearts of scholars?
"Confucius said: Be filial to relatives, so loyalty can be transferred to the king. Therefore, if you want loyal ministers, you must follow the door of a filial son. 』

"If I don't even care about this kind of filial son, who else in the world will be loyal to me?" 』

"The lethality of this matter is even greater than that of "Qing Zhong Pu"! 』

"Qingzhongpu" is just a play after all, and it has not been rehearsed and performed publicly. Zhu Youjian has many ways to stop it.

But what happened between Wei Dazhong and Wei Xuezhen was a fact that had already happened, and it was spread all over the world.

If Zhu Youjian makes mistakes in handling this matter, it will greatly affect his reputation and the loyalty of scholars.

Therefore, he was already inclined to throw Ruan Dacheng out and interrogate this person again.

But the difficult part is that Ruan Dacheng rose up together with many people. If he is thrown out, other ministers involved with the eunuch party may be in danger.

The Donglin Party is also likely to expand its attack area and continue to pursue them.

Now that he has decided to seek stability, Zhu Youjian does not want to cause another turmoil in the court because of this incident.

He wanted to try his best to suppress the dispute between the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian decided to postpone this matter and said:

"Wei Dazhong and Wei Xuezhen, their loyal ministers and filial sons, should be commended and given posthumous titles."

"As for the specific circumstances of the case, please ask Mr. Liu to lead the General Investigation Bureau to investigate."

"We are having a Buddhist feast now, let's not talk about political affairs for the time being!"

He asked the ministers to discuss rituals and music again, ordered the establishment of a theater in the capital, and invited famous theater troupes from all over the world to perform dramas in Beijing.

This matter would not be conspicuous in ordinary times, not to mention that most of the ministers were worried after hearing Liu Zongzhou's resignation.

Zhu Youjian saw that they lacked interest and the Sutra Feast could not go on, so he could only summarize today's content and end the Sutra Feast.

At this time, he had already felt that the undercurrent set off by Huang Zongxi and others had been revealed. How to deal with this matter is a test for yourself.

So after the banquet, Zhu Youjian immediately ordered the Jin Yiwei to take out all the investigation files. He wanted to sort this out from beginning to end.

After taking a closer look, Zhu Youjian really discovered that Lu Shanji's father, Lu Taigong, and Sun Qifeng and Zhang Guozhong, the three people known as the "Three Martyrs of Fan Yang", played a big role in it. :

Wei Zhongxian framed the Six Gentlemen for accepting bribes from Xiong Tingbi, and judged Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou to have stolen 20,000 yuan each and Wei Dazhong 3,000 yuan. After Zuo Guangdou and others were imprisoned, not only were they tortured, but their family members were also chased for their stolen goods.

As an old friend of Zuo Guangdou, Sun Qifeng couldn't stand this, so he raised funds everywhere with Lu Taigong and Zhang Guozhong, and raised thousands of taels. They even sent people to report the news to Sun Chengzong, which is also the origin of the rumor of "Qingjun side".

Wei Zhongxian saw that the matter was too big and someone wanted to be rescued, so he instructed Xu Xianchun to torture the person to death in prison.

Sun Qifeng and other three martyrs failed to save them in the end.

Therefore, after Huang Zongxi and others came to Beijing this time, they also actively participated in redressing the injustice.

With the participation of these three famous martyrs who are very close to Shuntian Mansion and can be regarded as locals, it is no wonder that they can quickly build momentum.

After Zhu Youjian saw their role, he already had the idea of ​​recruiting these people and making them officials:
"This kind of righteous man should be commended!" 』

"You can give three noble men and let them serve as officials." 』

Zhu Youjian was very proficient in using rewards and promotions to official positions, and he had already turned his thoughts around and wanted to transfer the three people away.

Then he looked at the information about the victims' families and couldn't bear to read it.

The murders of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others implicated many relatives. Yang Lian's son Yang Zhicai died of fright, Zuo Guangdou's brother Zuo Guangji was forced to commit suicide, and his mother died of grief. Wei Dazhong's son Wei Xuezhen was arrested and died in prison... all of which implicated his family.

It's no wonder that when Gao Panlong was arrested later, Gao Panlong drowned himself in a pond and died. This was not only because he did not want to be humiliated in prison, but also because he did not want to implicate his family.

Wei Zhongxian's methods are too cruel. No wonder Zhu Youjian promised to rehabilitate the Donglin Party members, but the families of these victims are still unwilling to give up.

What particularly shocked Zhu Youjian was that after Huang Zunsu's death, his mother cried bitterly until she fainted, and his father Huang Yuezhong wrote the eight characters "I forgot Goujian to kill your father" on the wall for Huang Zongxi to watch day and night.

Only then did Huang Zongxi, who was filled with hatred, become the main force behind this turmoil in the capital.

"How can I deal with this kind of hatred?" 』

"Compared with them, Wu Shangmo is really a moderate!" 』

At this moment, Zhu Youjian is really lucky that Wu Shangmo came to the forum a year ago and responded to it himself.

If it weren't for those edicts expressing their attitude, Huang Zongxi and others would have caused even greater turmoil after entering Beijing. Even the emperor himself might be disgraced.

Now this matter is just a little difficult to handle. Xu Xianchun and others who had enmity with Huang Zongxi and others had been exiled and passed through Tingji. This matter has basically been finalized and it is difficult to change it.

As for Ruan Dacheng, whom Liu Zongzhou participated in the impeachment, as long as he uses some means to abandon him, there will be no big problem.

After this man was elected as the young minister of Honglu Temple, he didn't know whether he felt safe or not, and he never expressed his support to the emperor. Therefore, Zhu Youjian had no psychological burden at all about abandoning Ruan Dacheng. The only thing to worry about is not letting Ruan Dacheng drag others into the water. He must be separated from those who have revolted before, and other people must not be affected.

So Zhu Youjian thought about it and decided to let the Independent Commission Against Corruption take action to arrest Ruan Dacheng first on the charge of corruption and bribery and try this crime.

After Wei Xuelian went to Beijing to redress his grievances, he would be tried together with Wei Dazhong's case to investigate personal responsibility.

In this way, we are not pursuing the eunuch party on the surface, and we will not put those officials involved with the eunuch party in danger.

After deciding on this strategy, Zhu Youjian also asked Jin Yiwei, who was in charge of newspaper censorship, to ask each newspaper to report carefully on the affairs of Huang Zongxi and others. Before the court made a final decision, he could not express his position at will——

In this way, the influence of Huang Zongxi and others' affairs can be suppressed. Even if they make a big fuss somewhere in the capital, it will be difficult for them to spread to other places.

Not to mention that there are many major events in the court now, and many people are satisfied with the previous handling of the eunuchs. They were not that concerned about the affairs of Huang Zongxi and others. What I am more concerned about are Liu Zongzhou's reproduction of rituals and music, Qian Qianyi's theory of permanent property and other topics.

So in the newspaper the next day, the headline was that Liu Zongzhou talked about rituals and music, and also contributed drama. The affairs of Wei Dazhong and Wei Xuezhen were not published at all.

Zhu Youjian also arranged for someone to publish an article in the Beijing News, explaining the role of music, treating the Sutra Banquet as a literary and artistic symposium, guiding the direction of literary and artistic creation in the Ming Dynasty, and calling on the scholars of the Ming Dynasty to create in this direction.

In this article, music has three major functions. The first is as the sum of sounds, which is produced by feelings and used to express emotions.

The second is the entertainment function, which gives the audience a sense of joy and relaxation through the expression of joy, anger, sorrow, and joy, allowing people to relax their tired spirits. He also called on literary and artistic works to focus on entertainment.

The third is the role of education, which is the highest requirement. It is used for the education of rituals and music to help move towards a world of great harmony. This role is not required for all literary and artistic works. As long as they do not violate public order and good customs, they are allowed to be published.

But works that are regarded as models must have educational properties. Zhu Youjian regarded the "Qing Zhongpu" presented by Liu Zongzhou as a model and asked commentators to analyze it.

This drama is described as Li Yu's emotional expression and promotes the concept of loyalty and filial piety, which has a distinct educational effect. It is recommended that he enhance the entertainment and write a happy ending. Don't write too heavy, as few people will read it. Only when more people see it can it be more effective.

After Li Yu saw it, he was immediately inspired and changed the script of "Qing Zhong Pu" to reduce the tragedy.

Especially knowing that the emperor appointed Liu Zongzhou to investigate and it was determined that Zhou Shunchang and Zhou Maolan's affairs would have a happy ending, Li Yu felt happier and wrote more relaxedly.

What made him even more happy was that the emperor made a promise to canonize those who perfect the piano as masters and award them with the rank of grand concubine.

This made Li Yu, who was good at opera and knew all kinds of musical instruments very well, extremely excited and felt that this matter was his opportunity. He, the son of a slave, might be able to make a comeback through this.

So while he was correcting the manuscript, he went to a place with a harpsichord to watch. Wanting to see what this instrument was that brought the emperor such attention.

There are very few harpsichords in the capital, but they are not unheard of. In the church in the capital, there is a harpsichord left by Matteo Ricci.

After the emperor issued the reward to the concubine, many curious people came to the church to watch.

Li Yu was with them and saw the so-called harpsichord:
"With 60 keys and 60 tones, this is much more than the zither. No wonder the emperor thought this instrument had potential."

"Even according to the twelve equal temperament, there are five groups of tones."

(The harpsichord, also known as the harpsichord, has five groups of sixty keys. This is a double-keyboard harpsichord. The first layer is used for playing and the second layer is used for transposition. Its keyboard is black and white. modern piano (opposite)
Muttering to himself, Li Yu quickly discovered the advantages of the harpsichord, especially for the twelve equal temperaments.

This multi-keyboard instrument that can be operated by a single person is very suitable for expressing the twelve equal temperaments.

Therefore, he has planned to let others imitate and build this instrument, and then transform it into a perfect piano according to the twelve equal temperaments.

At the same time, he also had to ponder the theories left by Zhu Zaiyu to ensure that the piano he built would be recognized by the emperor.

I don’t know how much effort it takes, and it obviously requires a lot of money. Li Yu doesn't have much savings and can't afford these. So after he returned, he paid more attention to the entertainment aspect of "Qing Zhong Pu" and felt that he needed to rely on this drama to attract audiences and earn enough money.

With Liu Zongzhou's presentation to the emperor and the propaganda in the "Beijing News", the popularity of "Qing Zhongpu" is enough. What Li Yu has to do is to modify it to make it more attractive.

In this way, with Zhu Youjian's intervention, this drama, which has left its name in history, began to change.

Lu Taigong, Sun Qifeng, Zhang Guozhong and others also summoned Zhu Youjian after he was free. After praising their righteous deeds, Zhu Youjian said:
"Previously, I decided to grant the status of a Yuanshi to a national scholar."

"What the three of them have done can be called Ming Dynasty scholars."

"Does Wen Qing think they can be specially awarded as national scholars?"

Wen Tiren accompanied the summons, and of course he agreed with the emperor's wishes, saying:

"His Majesty said that they are national scholars, so of course they can be given special gifts."

"This is Your Majesty's grace, why should I wait to comment?"

The decision-making power of the matter was directly handed over to the emperor.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with his knowledge and said:
"In that case, it's up to you to draft the decree and forward it to the cabinet as soon as possible."

"From now on, our Ming Dynasty will have three more national warriors."

"I wonder where the three ministers would like to serve?"

Lu Taigong, Sun Qifeng, and Zhang Guozhong were all very happy to be awarded the title of Yuanshi. They dared to do those things when Wei Zhongxian was in power, relying on their indignation rather than any reward. After all, the situation at that time was that they were facing death at any time, and they never thought about what would happen in the future.

Now that they had received a reward beyond their expectations, the three of them were excited and grateful. Deer is fair:
"I'm old, I don't want to be an official."

"I just want to enjoy peace and spend my remaining years in peace."

"May the world, as Your Majesty said, enter a world of great harmony."

Zhu Youjian was even more happy after hearing this, and said to him with a smile:

"Does the old man also know about the world of Datong?"

A smile appeared on Taigong Lu's face and he replied:
"Everyone in Beijing is talking about this. Of course I know it."

"It's a pity that I am getting old. I don't know if I will be able to see the world of great harmony in my lifetime."

He was happy that he could see the Holy Lord Mingjun, but he also lamented that he was old and could not see the prosperous age.

　"History of the Ming Dynasty·The Successive Biography of Lu Shan"

　　First, Yang and Zuo Zhi were imprisoned. Wei Dazhong's son Xue Zhen and Zuo Guang's younger brother Guangming successively went to Lu Taigong's house. When Taigong was a guest, he conspired with Sun Qi, a good righteous man named Rongcheng Juren. He walked out of the gate with a book and told him that it was difficult to inherit the clan. Chengzong and Shanjimou took the opportunity to inspect Jimen and asked to come to the throne.

　　There was a huge uproar in the Yan party, saying that the cabinet generals would raise troops to clear the emperor's side, and strictly ordered to stop it. The prison becomes more urgent, and the stolen goods are pursued every five days, and the looting is very cruel. Taigong hurriedly raised hundreds of gold and lost it, but both of them were dead.

　　As a result, Shan Ji returned, and Zhou Shunchang's prison broke out again. Shunchang was born in the same year as Shanji. Shanji raised hundreds of gold, but the money came in and Shunchang died. The Yan party lived close to Shan's successor family, and the servants of the Nan family looked at each other on the road. Taigong said: "I am not afraid."

　　
　
(End of this chapter)