I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 499 The storm is coming

Wang Lin held a banquet at home to entertain his fellow travelers, mainly inviting the wise men who had attended the last gathering.

Soon everyone arrived.

Cheng Wenyi, Li You, and Zhao Zhongyi came together and bowed to Wang Lin, saying, "Mr. Ji Jin, you have worked hard these days. It is all thanks to you that we have the voice of justice everywhere in the court and the country!"

"You are too polite. At a time when the Holy Religion is on the rise and fall, and when the Ming Dynasty is in danger, I should do my best. This time I met with you all to make a report to you, summarize the past, and look forward to the future."

He leaned forward and said softly, "It's a pity that now is a period of national mourning. All the major restaurants in the capital are closed, and the Jiaofang Bureau and brothels have also been ordered to temporarily close. It's a pity that we can't drink and chat happily, and discuss affairs.

I have invited the monks from Fazang Temple to prepare a vegetarian meal. I hope you will tolerate it.”

Li You said happily: "The banquet of Beopzang Temple is well-known in the capital. It is an honor for us to be invited by Jijin Gong to prepare a banquet."

Cheng Wenyi said at the side: "Brother Li, according to the new policy of the imperial court, Fazang Temple should be called Fazang Zen Temple, don't call it the wrong name."

Li You snorted, flicked his sleeves, and said disdainfully: "Humph! This is like taking off your pants to fart! Instead of caring about so many major issues concerning the national economy and people's livelihood, you have to focus on the names of Buddhist and Taoist courtyards. What new policy is this?
Haha, it's nothing more than a cover-up and a publicity stunt to exploit the people!"

"Well said!" Ding Shimei, who followed in, praised loudly, followed by Zhang Chong, Dong Chuanze and others.

"We, the disciples of the Holy Religion, uphold the principles of justice and will be so loyal and resolute to expose the ugly faces of the treacherous and treacherous officials in the court!"

Wang Lin was delighted to see them coming, and he said, "Several wise men are here too. Great! I am not alone in my teachings! It's just a pity that I also invited Yu Bingzhong, but he didn't come because he had caught a cold and was recuperating at home."

What a pity! "

Ding Shimei looked disdainful, "People with different ideals cannot work together! The three outstanding students of the Renxu Examination, one kneeled down to praise Zhang Shuda, and the other surrendered to Zhao Dazhou, disregarding their reputation and willingly falling into depravity!

I'm afraid Yu Bingzhong is the same. It's better that he didn't come. We were worried that he would be willing to be a spy."

"Haha, Brother Ding is absolutely right. We are ashamed to associate with such a man without integrity. Hey, how many people are still here?"

"Ziyuan and the others are busy, so they'll come back later."

"Oh, then let's not wait for them for now. Let Ji Jin-gong speak to everyone to boost morale!"

"Yes, please tell us, Mr. Jijin."

Wang Lin stood up, looked at the people sitting around the table, stroked his beard proudly, and said happily.

"Follow the will of heaven and the will of the people!

I spent a lot of money to collect and proofread your articles, and then invited the best bookmakers in the capital to print them, either in volumes or on sticky notes. More than 2,000 volumes and more than 5,000 sticky notes were distributed in Beijing.

The Express Transport Company was entrusted to transport more than 6,000 pamphlets to the Central Plains, Huaibei, Jiangnan, and Huguang, and tens of thousands of copies were posted and distributed to wise men and celebrities in various places. Although the cost was huge, the harvest was rich.

When the scholars in nearby Jifu, Shandong and Shanxi received the booklet and the notice, they were outraged and spread the news widely in their local area.

They wrote back to me one by one, solemnly stating their support for our just actions."

Wang Lin talked a lot.

The situation in the world is very good. Inspired by the articles of the wise men, everyone expressed that the strange phenomenon from heaven is a warning from God to the Ming Dynasty. We must follow the will of heaven, stand up, unite against the common enemy, denounce the treacherous and corrupt, and clarify the order of the court!
After hearing this, everyone's face was filled with joy.

Ding Shimei's eyes were filled with tears, and he was so excited that he could not control himself. He said in a hoarse voice: "I am not alone in my cause. There are so many righteous people in the world!"

Suddenly, there was an excited and surprised shout at the door: "Everyone, this is great news!"

When everyone heard the sound, they looked and saw Gao Yongchun running in excitedly, panting, with beads of sweat on his forehead.

"What's wrong, Ziyuan? What's the good news?"

Gao Yongchun said excitedly: "The Supervisory Office has just received an urgent report that someone has started an uprising in Baoqing, Yongzhou, and Hengzhou Prefectures in Huguang, raising the banner of "Why bother fighting each other? We swear to clear the emperor's side". The troops have swept through more than a dozen prefectures and counties, and the local officers and soldiers have fled at the news. Huguang will soon be ruined!

It is said that the leaders of the uprising are descendants of the royal family of Wugang Minfan and Changsha Jifan!"

"Good!" Ding Shimei jumped up and said, "This is the result of not practicing moral governance and not following the ancestral system! Has any emperor in the history of the country encountered so many strange phenomena at the beginning of his reign?
First there was a white rainbow piercing the sun, then there was an earthquake, and now the brothers from the same clan are rising up in anger!

Aren’t the warnings from God enough about natural and man-made disasters? Do we have to wait until the Ming Dynasty is about to fall before we wake up?
No! We are all disciples of the Holy Church. Although we may not be successful, we still have to take care of the people of the world as our responsibility!

We must continue to speak out loudly, continue to submit petitions to the emperor, assist the new emperor, restore order, and get back to the original root of the problem!

We ask the Emperor to obey the will of heaven and the people, issue an edict of self-criticism, denounce the treacherous and treacherous ministers to the world, and show his determination to abolish the chaotic politics and return to the ancestral system! "

Wang Lin's eyes lit up, and everyone looked at each other with excitement in their eyes.

This is a temporary price increase!
Previously, we had only asked the Emperor to dismiss treacherous and treacherous ministers such as Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, Tan Lun, Li Zhi, Wang Guoguang, and Cai Maochun. Now, members of the royal family in Hunan have taken the lead in gathering a crowd and are launching an uprising at the beginning of the Emperor's reign. According to what Gao Yongchun said, there is a tendency for the corruption of Huguang.

This was equivalent to giving the emperor another hard slap in the face.

Natural disasters and man-made calamities, so many strange phenomena, are enough to prove that destiny and public opinion are on our side!

Must increase price!

The emperor must issue an edict of repentance, and this edict must be drafted by those on our side who have brilliant literary talent and good moral character.

If you are responsible for writing the edict of repentance, then you have the initiative.

If they disliked someone, they would write in the imperial edict that he was a traitor who brought about natural disasters and man-made calamities.

The wise men on their side, as virtuous and loyal ministers who quelled natural disasters and man-made disasters, naturally made a brief mention of this.

Once the edict of repentance is issued, the next step must be to severely punish a group of people. Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng and other treacherous ministers must be driven away. Aren't we, the righteous ministers, the ones who will take over?
it is good!
Everyone stood up excitedly and shouted happily: "Ding Bangyan is worthy of being the top scholar. His speech was impassioned and expressed our thoughts!"

Wang Lin raised his glass and said loudly: "My fellow colleagues, I would like to offer this wine to you first. You have worked hard for the Ming Dynasty. The noble families and people of the world will definitely remember us!
When the Ming Dynasty comes back to life, we will drink wine to celebrate the merits of heaven!"

"it is good!"

Everyone responded loudly.

While Wang Lin and others were drinking plain wine, Hu Zongxian, wearing a plain blue robe, a woolen jacket on the outside, and a felt hat, quietly came to the south city with an attendant and a guard.

Hu Zongxian looked around and saw that the South City was still the same, with low and sparse houses, piled together in a mess. A few Buddhist temples stood out among them, like a crane standing out among chickens.

"Sanshiqilang, have you found out? Is Fengwu really in Nancheng?"

"Brother Jiu, I have inquired. Shaoyin Pan is in South City today. He said that he is here to supervise the renovation of South City in person. He is at the Fazang Zen Temple."

The person who answered was Hu Zongmei, courtesy name Ziqi, a cousin of Hu Zongxian, the 37th child, 36 years younger than Hu Zongxian. He was 23 years old today. He passed the provincial examination at the age of 20 in the first year of Longqing, and then failed in the spring examination in the second year of Longqing.

Hu Zongxian was a close official in Xiyuan. He knew Zhu Yijun's future reform ideas and felt that Hu Zongmei did not need to fight hard in the imperial examinations, so he recommended him to study at the Imperial College. Last year, he performed well in the civil servant recruitment examinations, skipped the basic levels of unqualified and qualified, and was awarded the ninth rank. He first interned in the Ministry of War for three months, and now he has been transferred to the General Affairs Bureau of the Supervisory Office to become Hu Zongxian's attaché.

It is easy to be an official if you have someone in the court. This has never been true before or since, both in China and abroad.

"Fazang Zen Temple? Okay, let's go there quickly."

They asked passers-by along the way, made detours, avoided the busy vendors, and passed through the deserted alleys. Half an hour later, the three arrived at the gate of Fazang Zen Temple.

"Fazang Zen Temple", from the temple gate under the plaque, monks with sad faces and carrying bags on their backs walked out one after another.

Hu Zongmei received Hu Zongxian's signal and stepped forward to ask, "Excuse me, monk, what's wrong?"

A monk wiped his tears silently and looked not far away.

Not far away, there were several monks in brocade robes and silk embroidery, with square foreheads, broad faces and rosy complexions. They got into several carriages with the help of novices.

One monk angrily said: "The government abuses its power to bully people and defiles the holy place of Buddhism!"

"Ah, there is such a thing in this bright and clear world. Can you please explain it more clearly, monk?"

"The government is renovating the old city in the south, and they said it would start from the three districts of Xuanbei, Xuannan and Baizhi in the west. You can renovate it if you want, but it has nothing to do with people like us.

The government forcibly requisitioned several of our Buddhist temples to house the people living in the three quarters. Then they drove all of us monks to live in the Maitreya Temple outside the city.
The Maitreya Temple is a small place, and it has to squeeze in the monks from our five temples, Fazang, Fahua, Longan, Anhua, and Xizhao, as well as its original monks. How can it fit in?"

Before the monk could finish his complaint, a clear voice came from the temple gate.

"What? You monks are still not convinced?"

As he spoke, a man walked out. He was wearing a blue shirt and a small hat, with his shirt tucked into his belt. His face and clothes were covered in dust. He looked like a servant who ran errands for South City.

But Hu Zongxian recognized him at a glance, Pan Yinglong, the Shaoyin of Shuntian Prefecture.

The monk knew who he was, and his neck shrank. He dared not say anything more. He lowered his head, hunched his back, and hurried away among the crowd.

Pan Yinglong pointed at these monks and spoke bluntly.

"Hey, you bald ass, you've been saying bad things about me behind my back, but now that I'm here in person, why don't you dare say it to my face!
If you have the guts, go find your abbot to supervise the temple. They live in a mansion in a separate courtyard, have servants and housekeepers, eat and drink the best food, and you help them chant sutras and do Buddhist rituals, earning so much money from incense, but you haven't received a penny from them.

Now that the tree has fallen, the monkeys have scattered. Go find your master to divide the temple property! Why do you only resent Shuntian Prefecture? It is not us Shuntian Prefecture that stole your money. "

It has the momentum of being a one man in the street who cannot defeat a hundred monks.

Hu Zongmei looked at this senior scholar with great curiosity.

Hu Zongxian was both angry and amused. He knew that Pan Yinglong was talented and had once been successful at a young age. But he suddenly encountered a disaster, which not only destroyed his family, but also ruined his reputation and he almost died.

After the great change, he experienced the ups and downs of life, saw through the ways of the world, and his temperament changed drastically, sometimes becoming unruly and unruly.

"Feng Wu!"

Pan Yinglong turned around when he heard the voice and saw Hu Zongxian and the other two in the crowd. He was overjoyed and said, "Mr. Hu, I didn't expect you to find me here.

There are too many people outside, please go to the temple, I will ask them to find a clean place and make a pot of tea. This place is simple and not as good as Shuntian Mansion, please forgive me, Mr. Hu. "

"Feng Wu, you are too polite. This is Zi Qi, my cousin, the thirty-sixth child, the thirty-sixth brother."

"Haha, Sanshiliulang, I heard that you were admitted to the Imperial College and Mr. Zhuo Wu praised you."

"Hello, Mr. Feng Wu. Zi Qi often hears Brother Jiu mention your great name."

"This is Lin Junxiao from the Yiwei Division."

"Military Lin, you've worked hard."

"I have met Pan Shaoyin, but I am not worthy of that title."

The four of them entered the courtyard, which was in a mess, with thousands of craftsmen busy at work. Hundreds of porters were carrying bricks, cement, sand and gravel and other construction materials in an orderly manner and piling them in the courtyard.

"Feng Wu, what are you doing?"

"Renovate the Dharmazang Zen Monastery, separate the side rooms and guest halls, and make them into individual houses for the people in the three western districts of the south city to live in.

When there are more people, we need to add more toilets, dig more underground canals and sewer pipes, and improve sanitation. Otherwise, if a plague breaks out in this courtyard, it will be terrible, and we will have to build a clinic over there.

We also need to dig wells and build reservoirs. I plan to turn the main hall into a temporary school. Shuntian Prefecture recruited a group of new people through the recruitment examination last year, and asked them to take turns to come here to teach the children in Xisanfang how to read and write.

In the evening, we will invite a troupe of actors to perform here and use this as a stage for everyone to listen to.”

Hu Zongxian smiled and said, "You are really thoughtful."

"There's no other way. We drove them out of their homes in the first month of the year and moved them here. If we don't appease them, their hearts will be unstable."

"Well, if you show these favors, the people will be at peace."

In this day and age, if someone can teach their children to read for free, it is a blessing that cannot be begged for. Combined with other measures, the resentful people of Xisanfang will naturally calm down.

Hu Zongxian continued to ask: "Fengwu, you are really resolute. You started construction as soon as the government office opened in the first month of the year?"

"I have been in Hu Gong's office for a long time, and I have been deeply educated. Everything is based on military orders. There is no way, I can't change it in a short time. Hu Gong, Ziqi, Lin Junxiao, please take a seat!"

Pan Yinglong led the three people to a pavilion, which was quiet and undisturbed. He asked someone to bring a pot of hot tea and four cups, and Pan Yinglong greeted them and asked.

"Mr. Hu is here in plain clothes. What do you want to see a student about?"

Hu Zongxian looked at Hu Zongmei and Lin Junxiao, and the two of them left tactfully, leaving the pavilion to Hu Zongxian and Pan Yinglong.

"Feng Wu, are you aware of the undercurrents in the imperial court recently?"

"Mr. Hu, these things all happened in Shuntian Prefecture. Do you think I know about this?"

Hu Zongxian's eyes lit up and he seemed to be thinking about something.

Pan Yinglong took the initiative to ask: "Mr. Hu came here today for this matter?"

Hu Zongxian nodded and sighed, "The clouds on the creek are rising and the sun is sinking into the pavilion. The mountain rain is about to come and the wind is blowing in the building."

(End of this chapter)