Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

When Zhang Tongchang and Zhang Xianzhong were dividing the sphere of influence with Ligdan Khan in the northern desert, someone in Jiangnan also mentioned them:
"Zhang Xianzhong was granted the title of Earl, and the court sent Mr. Kong to preside over the enfeoffment."

"I wonder how many warriors will make great contributions on the frontier in the future."

"The future of the Ming Dynasty will soon belong to the military heroes!"

Huang Daozhou, who was attending the party, frowned slightly when he heard Chen Jiru's remarks and said:

"Mr. Chen, be careful with your words!"

"This time the court is conferring titles on more than just military men."

"I won't say much about the rest. Zhang Tongchang, the Duke of Jiangling, is a descendant of Zhang Jiangling."

"I heard that he was well-read since childhood and once intended to take the imperial examination."

It is obvious that he considered Zhang Tongchang to be a scholar and a fellow traveler.

Chen Jiru smiled and said:

"You are a scribe now, but you may not be in the future."

"Which of the Jinyiwei's descendants was not a scholar?"

"Jiangling Gong has now become the general of Andong. How can he be regarded as a scholar in the future?"

"The current emperor is really good at using a civilian officer to break the boundary between civil and military affairs."

"How do we know that there won't be military guards in the future, and they will become high-ranking officials such as governors and governors?"

The emperor's intentions can be clearly seen from the establishment of civilian officers and their clothing.

Others, thinking of the military positions such as county lieutenants and prefectural garrison commanders newly created by the emperor, also nodded, believing that the current emperor indeed valued military men.

Huang Daozhou was not very familiar with military affairs, and he was also thoughtful after hearing this, and said:

"Mr. is very knowledgeable and has unique insights."

"But in Huang's opinion, breaking through the boundary between civil and military affairs is not a bad thing."

"It is possible for a military officer to become a civil official, and a civil official can become a military officer."

"And by comparison, civil officials have an advantage. As long as they have the title of Jinshi, the probation period is four years."

Chen Jiru stroked his beard and shook his head, and said to his friends who were listening to his conversation:

"The number of military officers is much greater than that of civil officers."

"There are a hundred thousand hereditary military officers alone."

"When you serve as officials in the future, you will inevitably come into contact with them."

This made officials such as Huang Daozhou silent for a moment.

As Chen Jiru said, there are too many military officers. Even if only one-tenth of them were converted to civil service, the number would be as high as 10,000.

This is the current number of all civil servants, and it has been expanded by the current emperor.

Seeing that all counties were adding low-level officials to form county-level assemblies, they all thought about how to gain an advantage and prevent these positions from being occupied by military officers.

When Chen Jiru saw that what he said was heard by the official, he couldn't help but stroke his beard and smile, feeling quite proud.

As a hermit, he would not take the initiative to participate in government affairs. However, if someone made a petition to the court because of his words and influenced the court's policies, the juren and xiucai who would become officials in the future would be grateful to him.

Even the civil servants in the court would thank him for this. He hoped that in the future he would be recommended by more people and be granted the status of a Yuanshi.

This made him think of this, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart:

"I have lived in seclusion in the mountains for decades, but I have not been able to escape from the secular world!"

"This Yuanshi was called a national scholar by the emperor. Zeng Jing got this title, and Chen Hongshou also has a chance."

"Although I don't want to enter the government, how can I refuse the title of Yuanshi?"

"Your Majesty, this is a really good trick!"

Just as civilian military officers broke the boundaries between civil and military affairs, the establishment of Yuanshi connected Jinshi and hermits.

In the past, hermits like him could use the excuse of "giving up on career advancement" to not participate in the imperial examinations, making it unclear to the world how big the gap was between his level and that of a Jinshi.

But now it is no longer possible. The emperor has set up the Yuanshi, which is awarded to those who have not become Jinshi. Moreover, it is not required to be an official, but only talent and achievements are considered.

Sun Qifeng, Zeng Jing and others did not enter the officialdom. After they became Yuanshi, their knowledge and calligraphy and painting were admired by the world.

As a world-famous hermit, if Chen Jiru did not have the title of Yuanshi, his influence would be reduced. Many people would doubt whether he was a national scholar.

So, after being invited by Xu Xiake, he walked out of Songjiang and came to Suzhou to attend a gathering with friends.

Yes, this gathering was initiated by Xu Xiake.

He and Chen Jiru were good friends, and the name Xiake was given to him by Chen Jiru.

Chen Jiru also taught him the skills of using government services to gain various benefits while traveling. As a hermit, Chen Jiru was very good at using his reputation to gain various benefits.

As for Huang Daozhou, he and Xu Xiake were close friends. During Huang Daozhou's mourning period, Xu Xiake paid him a special visit, and the two formed a deep friendship.

When Huang Daozhou went north to the capital to take up his post this year, Xu Xiake learned that he was passing through Danyang and went to meet him specifically.

It was just because Huang Daozhou had to rush to Beijing before the official selection in February, so the two met hurriedly and then parted immediately.

It was originally planned that they would meet again after several years, but Huang Daozhou offended the emperor by giving advice after arriving in Beijing and was demoted to the position of magistrate of Suzhou Prefecture.

Xu Xiake, a native of Jiangyin, Changzhou Prefecture, specially invited many friends to come to Suzhou Prefecture and organized this gathering.

All of them were friends, so they spoke without much scruples. Xu Xiake smiled and said to Chen Jiru:
"Mei Gong once said, 'A warrior without the spirit of swords and weapons is an indispensable person in the world.'"

"It's not impossible for a military man to be an official, as long as he is restrained by rules."

"The current emperor has re-established rituals and music, and has agreed on rituals and laws with the people."

"Even if a warrior has made great achievements, he can't be as rampant as he was at the beginning of the country."

Then he asked Huang Daozhou:

"Brother Shi Zhai, you have met the emperor in the capital. What do you think of the current emperor?"

"Is he a wise ruler?"

Huang Daozhou pondered over this for a long time before saying:
"Although the actions of the current emperor may not conform to ancient etiquette, he has his own set of rules and regulations, and he is not a person who acts recklessly."

"Compared to the previous emperor, the current emperor is so wise that he can be called a saintly monarch!"

Emperor Tianqi acted arbitrarily, and the powerful Wei Zhongxian did not take the law seriously. After the death of the Six Gentlemen and the Seven Gentlemen, the Donglin Party members were really in danger. No one knew whether they would be the next to die.

Compared with them, the current emperor is really too good. Not only did he vindicate the Donglin gentlemen, he also granted them official positions and even titles. Moreover, he was very methodical in his actions, so that they didn't have to worry about when they would die.

When everyone thought of the horrors during the Tianqi years, they felt sad for a moment. Those present were either members of the Donglin Party or friends of the Donglin Party, and they really didn't want to recall the events during the Tianqi years.

They are also grateful to the current emperor from the bottom of their hearts. Although some people are dissatisfied with the emperor's retention of some eunuchs in the court, the measure of "murder must be investigated" brings comfort to the families and friends of all the victims.

After everyone talked about these things for a while, Chen Jiru said with a smile:

"Rare! Rare!" "You, Huang Shizhai, were demoted to Suzhou, but you still speak for the current emperor. You are truly a gentleman!"

Everyone laughed when they heard this and praised Huang Daozhou, thinking he was a true gentleman.

Xu Xiake also stroked his beard and smiled, and it was obvious that Huang Daozhou was not depressed about being demoted.

Huang Daozhou had been in Suzhou for more than a month and had long since gotten over his initial demotion. Listening to Chen Jiru's joke, he smiled bitterly and said:

"I hurried to the north last time, and even Brother Xu didn't have time to receive me, because I heard that the current emperor was in high spirits and was a promising monarch."

"I didn't expect that after arriving in the capital, I was not used to everything. I almost touched my own reverse scale and questioned the re-creation of rituals and music."

"Now that I think about it, the emperor was merciful by demoting me to Suzhou. He didn't even remove my position in the Imperial Academy."

"On the contrary, if I stir up trouble in the capital, people will die!"

Huang Daozhou only figured this out after he came to Suzhou.

Compared with the capital, Suzhou has not changed much, and he is very familiar with many aspects.

Some policies that have long been implemented in the capital are still being implemented in Suzhou.

It was because of this that Huang Daozhou saw the huge contradictions hidden behind every law.

Some contradictions were so complex that even he felt he had no way of dealing with them. He could only strictly implement the court's strategy like a whipper in the capital.

This was the case in a small corner of the country, not to mention the more complicated situation in the imperial court. If he raised a storm of doubts about the reform of rituals and music, the emperor and Liu Zongzhou and others would inevitably suffer a huge impact.

At that time, the emperor will have to make a choice in order to suppress the dispute.

By then, either he or Liu Zongzhou would die. It was very likely that only one of them would survive.

Therefore, Huang Daozhou's current idea is to implement the rituals and laws that he approves of in the local area, just like his friends who opposed Wang Anshi's reforms back then, rather than staying in the court to oppose it.

There were officials and civilians present. Some understood what he said, but some were still confused. Xu Xiake said:

"Brother Shi Zhai is a gentleman. Those who are his enemies are definitely villains."

"Since he is a villain, what's the harm if he dies?"

"Didn't many of the Donglin people get killed by villains back then?"

As a native of Southern Zhili, he was obviously ideologically inclined towards the Donglin Party. And because his hometown was adjacent to the Donglin Academy, he had close contacts with many Donglin Party members.

Not to mention Huang Daozhou who is in front of him, Wen Zhenmeng, Chen Renxi, Zheng Yu and others are all his good friends.

Gao Panlong, Sun Shenxing and others have written poems for him.

What impressed the Donglin Party members most was that after Miao Changqi was killed, Xu Xiake was still willing to let his eldest son marry Miao Changqi's granddaughter.

The integrity shown in this is also the reason why many literati in the south of the Yangtze River are willing to interact with Xu Xiake.

With these origins, it is not surprising that Xu Xiake spoke from the perspective of the Donglin Party.

Aren’t the people standing opposite the Donglin gentlemen villains?

But this time Chen Jiru smiled and said:
"What if the person standing opposite Mr. Shizhai is also a gentleman?"

"Mr. Liu Zongzhou of Yushan, haven't you heard of his great name, Xiake?"

Xu Xiake would certainly have heard of this great figure. He also knew that Liu Zongzhou was also a member of the Donglin Party and was a fellow traveler like Huang Daozhou.

This surprised him so much that he couldn't close his mouth. He looked at Huang Daozhou and murmured:

"We are all gentlemen, how could it come to a point where life and death are at stake?"

“A gentleman should be harmonious but different. Even if they have different opinions, they should be harmonious.”

Some people laughed, while others nodded in agreement.

Although these words are naive, they really touch the hearts of some people.

Huang Daozhou just didn't want to get into dispute with Liu Zongzhou in the court, and now he has given up the idea of ​​returning to the court.

Moreover, he knew that the emperor would never let him go back until he changed his attitude. The emperor, who followed Liu Zongzhou's advice to follow the ways of Yao and Shun, was unwilling to get his blood on his sleeve easily.

Chen Jiru had guessed what he was thinking at this time, and after everyone had finished speaking, he said to Xu Xiake:
"My dear friend Xiake, have you heard of Wang Anshi's reforms?"

"Sima Guang, Zeng Gong and others were good friends of Wang Anshi, and they can all be called gentlemen."

“Why did things get so chaotic after the reform, and why were Sima Guang, Zeng Gong and others banished from the capital?”

Xu Xiake understood now, and said:

"It turns out that Mr. Jishan is carrying out reforms in the court."

"Brother Shi Zhai disagrees with this, so he was sent out."

Huang Daozhou nodded slightly, then sighed deeply:
"Re-establishing rituals and music is a reform of the law, isn't it? We need to re-establish all the previous rituals and laws."

"For matters like this that concern the entire world, it is never too cautious to be cautious."

"Huang was demoted to Suzhou by the Emperor himself, who also asked Teacher Yuan to persuade me to take up the post."

"Mr. Jishan, you have met a wise ruler."

"It's not an exaggeration to call him a Saint King."

According to the previous situation of life-and-death party struggles, if Huang Daozhou stood on the opposite side of the reform of rites and music, he would not be able to continue to be an official, let alone be imprisoned or executed.

But although the current emperor dealt with him, he did not completely abandon him. He was even worried that he would lose his temper and resign, so he asked his teacher Yuan Keli to persuade him to take up the post.

All these things made Huang Daozhou, although he still felt resentful about being demoted, he had to sigh that this was a sage king.

The reason he sighed was that this sage monarch was now practicing Liu Zongzhou's ideas, not Huang Daozhou.

Huang Daozhou felt even more sorry for himself, thinking that he had insisted on observing the mourning period after the emperor issued an order to reinstate him, thus missing the opportunity to explain his ideas to the emperor and practice the great principles.

Because he knew that what he missed was the opportunity to become a saint.

Once Liu Zongzhou succeeded in reforming the rituals and music, he would be the Duke of Zhou of the Ming Dynasty, a saint respected by all.

How could Huang Daozhou not sigh when he realized that he had such an opportunity?
This is something that outsiders do not know. Although Huang Daozhou was famous at that time, he was far from being comparable to Liu Zongzhou. He was even not as famous as Qian Qianyi. No one thought that he had the opportunity to preside over the re-creation of rituals and music.

However, Huang Daozhou knew that when the emperor met him, he referred to him and Liu Zongzhou as "the two Zhous" and also asked for his opinions on the re-establishment of rituals and music.

If he had behaved in a way that met the emperor's wishes at the time, he would have had the opportunity to preside over the reformulation of rituals and music together with Liu Zongzhou.

Unfortunately, he did not realize this at the time and was not used to the drastic changes in the capital.

So much so that the emperor quickly decided to demote him and send him out of the capital.

Now that he had thought it through, he realized how much the emperor valued him. He even thought that if he had taken office immediately when the emperor ascended the throne, he might not have been in the position that Liu Zongzhou was in today.

Unfortunately, he chose to continue observing the mourning period. Even though the emperor gave him the official title of Imperial Observatory, he did not accept the emperor's order.

So much so that when he took office this year, the court had become something he was very unfamiliar with, and there was no way he could preside over the re-creation of rituals and music.

Only a few people knew the twists and turns involved. Even Chen Jiru, who was very good at understanding people's minds, could not guess Huang Daozhou's true thoughts. (End of this chapter)