I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 956: Lord Feng Pan Saved My Family

Although he thought so in his heart, Wang Shizhen did not dare to neglect it and said quickly: "Linzhou, tell them to leave. I will go to greet the distinguished guest."

"Okay, brother."

Wang Shizhen went to the gate to meet Zhang Siwei.

"Lord Feng Pan, I am sorry for not welcoming you in person."

"Mr. Fengzhou, I came here uninvited, please forgive me."

"please!"

Zhang Siwei followed Wang Shizhen into the garden, admiring the beautiful scenery along the way.

"Seconds, great, the Yanshan Garden is indeed full of pavilions, terraces, and pavilions, with everything you need, and the best pavilions, ponds, flowers and trees.

"The phoenix is ​​at rest and the phoenix is ​​flying, and I have a special sorrow. I dream of Suzhou for three lifetimes."

Hearing this unprecedented poem, Wang Shizhen couldn't help but frown. Whoever wrote this poem, it's very good.

Zhang Siwei continued, "This is a line of poetry that the emperor recited when he was touring the Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, Tiger Hill and other places in Suzhou two days ago. In my opinion, it reflects the scenery of Fengzhou Gong's Yanshan Garden."

Wang Shizhen's heart started beating wildly when he heard this. He felt that Zhang Siwei came with ill intentions.

He laughed dryly twice, "Lord Fengpan, you are joking. The emperor's elegant and profound poems are really too high to be used in my humble garden. It is not worthy. Yanshan Garden is not worthy."

“Haha, Lord Fengzhou is being modest again.

Zhang has heard of the origin of Yanshan Garden. It is said that it was created when Duke Fengzhou admired the "west of the Great Wilderness, north of Yanzhou" in the "Nanhua Jing" and the "mountains of Yanzhou, colorful birds looking up to the sky, named Mingniao" in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".

There is a style of music, singing and dancing. There is a country called Xuanyuan, where it is auspicious to live in the south, and those who are not long-lived can live to be 800 years old, so it is named Yanshan Garden.

Zhang had been wandering around Suzhou and Yangzhou before, but had never been to Fengzhougong's Yanshan Garden. Today, I am fortunate to be able to see its true appearance. I am so lucky! "

Zhang Siwei followed Wang Shizhen all the way to Yanyuan Hall, nodding and praising as he walked.

"Wonderful, great! Yanshan Garden is as exquisite as the Humble Administrator's Garden!"

Wang Shizhen's face kept twitching.

Zhang Fengpan, why do you want to compare Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden with my Yanshan Garden? It's unlucky!
It is well known across the country that the Humble Administrator's Garden was built by Wang Xianchen, a Jinshi in the Hongzhi period and a famous official in the Zhengde period.

Wen Zhengming, a famous painter and representative of the Wu School of Painting at that time, was invited to participate in the design. It took 16 years to complete and was completed in the 12th year of Jiajing.

As a result, in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, some evil-hearted person told Emperor Shizong that it was the former Minister of Rites, Wang Mulan, who retired and returned to his hometown. He built a garden on the site of Dahong Temple in Wu County, Suzhou. It took five years and 610,000 taels of silver to build it, and it was named Humble Administrator's Garden.

This caused the late Emperor Shizong to fly into a rage, and he angrily shouted: "You are less than fifty years old and you want to retire. I am sixty years old, and I am still working hard for the country and the people! What a bunch of unruly people."

So with an imperial decree, the imperial guards left the capital, and Wang Mulan was brought to the capital, where she was imprisoned for corruption. She was executed in Xishi, and her family was exiled to the northwest.

The Humble Administrator's Garden was confiscated by the government.

After Wang Xianchen died, his son became addicted to gambling and lost the Humble Administrator's Garden to Xu overnight.

Xu then presented the garden to Wang Mulan in order to curry favor with this leader of the southeastern literary world, a leader of the upright class who had great influence in the government and the country.

Unexpectedly, this confirmed Wang Mulan's guilt.

It is absolutely true that after Wang Mulan acquired the Humble Administrator's Garden, she spent more than 100,000 silver dollars on its renovation and decoration.

The Humble Administrator's Garden was later divided into three parts by Hai Rui, who was appointed as the governor of Jiangsu Province, namely the east, middle, west and residential parts. The residential part and the adjacent west part were converted into the Suzhou Museum.

The eastern part was expanded into a park, which is under the jurisdiction of Suzhou County Municipal Bureau and is regularly open to the public.

The central part was converted into Suzhou Guest House, which served as a "guest house" under the General Affairs Bureau of Suzhou County Government.

The famous garden in the Three Wus ended up in such a way, which made countless famous scholars in the southeast sigh with regret.

Wang Shizhen suddenly had an idea.

The incident of Wang Mulan and the Humble Administrator's Garden can be regarded as the beginning of a catastrophe for the literary world in southeast China.

Since those two incidents, the aristocratic families and famous scholars in the southeast have been in trouble, until the three major cases in Jiangnan, when almost all of them were caught in one fell swoop.
In the center of Yanyuan Hall, Wang Shizhen asked Zhang Siwei to sit in the upper west seat, while he sat in the east seat with him, and Wang Shimao sat in the lower first seat on the east side with him.

"Mr. Feng Pan, I wonder what you can do for me during your visit to my humble abode?"

After the tea and snacks were served, Wang Shizhen decided to get straight to the point.

Zhang Siwei is a world-famous glass bead man who talks in circles and goesssips all the time. The two brothers really can't get around him.

"I came here for no reason." Zhang Siwei laughed heartily, "I heard that Lord Fengzhou took a nun named Tan Yangzi as his master and sought the way of immortality?"

Wang Shizhen had not expected that Zhang Siwei would actually start with this topic. He hesitated for a moment and replied tactfully, "Mr. Feng Pan, is there anything wrong with Wang seeking immortality?"

"Seeking immortality and the Way of Taoism is a freedom of belief. As long as it does not harm the people and does not harm heaven and earth, the court will not care. But this Tan Yangzi, I heard her name is Wang Taozhen, is she the second daughter of Wang Yuanyu (Wang Xijue), the governor of Jiangxi?"

Wang Shizhen tried hard to think about Zhang Siwei's words, but he did not find any traps or problems. He answered hesitantly, "Yes, Taoist Tan Yangzi is my fellow countryman, the second daughter of Wang Yuanyu."

Zhang Siwei continued, "It is said that Tan Yangzi cut her hair to become a nun and seek the truth, and her fame spread throughout the Three Wus. Many scholars came to listen to her teachings and became her disciples.

There are also many celebrities, as well as officials in office and retired, who write articles to support her? "

Wang Shizhen sensed something unusual and answered, "This is the way things are in the Three Wus. People like to learn from the truth and enjoy the unusual. That's why many people come to admire you."

Zhang Siwei laughed, "I have been to Suzhou before, and I know the customs in the Three Wus. Generally speaking, as the emperor's words indicate, material civilization has been improved, people have no worries about food and clothing, and are very rich, but spiritual civilization has not kept up, people are empty and perverse, and do nothing.

Your Majesty is wise and has revealed the essence of these strange phenomena in one sentence."

The more Wang Shizhen listened, the more he felt unsure. The spiritual civilization had not kept up, and it was empty and perverse. This comment was not a good thing. Spiritual civilization was exactly the scope of authority of Zhang Siwei, the director of the Civilization Construction Steering Committee.

It was not wrong for him to say these words to himself.

But how could it be possible that such a cunning old fox did not stay with the emperor, but ran to Taicang to say these words to himself, as if to give him advice?

Wang Shizhen didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Zhang Siwei looked at his expression and felt more confident, so he continued.

"Zhang also heard that Tan Yangzi predicted in advance that he would ascend to heaven on September 9th.

So she cut her hair on September 8th and hung it in front of her late husband Xu Jingshao's tomb. On September 9th, she ascended to heaven in broad daylight in Zhitang. It is said that tens of thousands of people came to witness the grand event, crying and worshipping for days.

Lord Fengzhou, is this true?"

Wang Shizhen didn't know how to respond. He only knew that no matter how he answered, it would be a fatal question.

"Mr. Fengzhou, can you help me solve this puzzle?"

Facing Zhang Siwei's relentless questioning, Wang Shizhen could only answer: "Fools are ignorant, and this is indeed the case."

"The people are ignorant, but Lord Fengzhou is a famous scholar in the Three Wus and a leader in the literary world of the southeast. He carries the trust of the whole country and should shoulder the responsibility of educating the people and moving them away from evil."

Zhang Siwei said meaningfully: "So far, the only true miracle in the Ming Dynasty was on the first day of the first year of the Wanli reign, when the emperor officially ascended the throne.

That is the true resonance between heaven and man, and auspicious sign for the prosperity of the country."

Wang Shizhen was restless. This sentence was straightforward but extremely sharp.

When the emperor officially ascended the throne on New Year's Day of the first year of the Wanli reign, a miracle occurred. It was witnessed by millions of officials, common people, soldiers and civilians, and the news spread throughout the world. Billions of people believed that the emperor was the true dragon emperor appointed by heaven.

Later, with the Wanli New Deal, the Ming Dynasty prospered with each passing day, which verified this statement.

What’s going on? Dongnan is now preparing to promote a “female fairy” who can ascend to heaven in broad daylight. Is he trying to go against the emperor, or to take away the emperor’s luck, or is he trying to disgust the emperor?

But Wang Shizhen knew that no matter which one, as long as the charges were proven, the downfall of the Wang family would be imminent.

Zhang Siwei continued, "During the first month of the imperial court meeting, Wang Yuanyu was impeached for this matter. Fortunately, the emperor was generous and did not take it seriously. However, his future was...
This is his fate! Otherwise, he should have gone a step further and entered the Advisory Council in Beijing."

He seemed very regretful in his words.

Wang Shizhen knew that Zhang Siwei was indeed very sad.

Wang Xijue was very close to Zhang Siwei in the past few years.

Two years ago, Zhang Siwei was temporarily stationed in Suzhou to win over the hearts of the people in the southeast, and Wang Xijue helped a lot. It was also with Zhang Siwei's recommendation that Wang Xijue was promoted from the right councilor of Jiangsu to the left councilor, the provincial governor, and now the governor of Jiangxi.

Judging from Zhang Siwei's tone, he originally wanted to recommend Wang Xijue to join the Council of State as a scholar, to hold a more important position, rather than just being a court official or the governor of Jiangxi.

"In the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, the top three candidates in the imperial examination, Shen Rumo (Shen Shixing), was selected by Dazhou Gong as his successor. He jumped from the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites to the advisory bureau as a scholar, and then served as the left censor-in-chief of the Metropolitan Censorate.

The top scholar Yu Bingzhong (Yu Youding) was a generous person who was not cunning and was implicated by a villain. However, he returned to the right path and joined Wang Boyu (Wang Daokun), where he served as a councilor and left and right councilor in Zhejiang, showing his talents.

Although he did not join the Council of State Councilors, he became the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Wang Boyu's right-hand man, and his rapid rise to prominence was just around the corner.

Only Yuan Yu was implicated by the second daughter. If you fall behind by one step, you will fall behind step by step. "

Zhang Siwei's sigh made Wang Shizhen tremble with fear.

If Wang Yuanyu is like this, wouldn’t I be in even greater danger?
I am one of the "Four Great Vajras" under Tan Yangzi's name. When he ascended to heaven in broad daylight, I was busy running around and arranging it all by myself.

Wang Shizhen regrets it now.

I originally used the excuse of seeking immortality to bide my time and wait for the right opportunity.

As a result, it was overdone.

The Wanli New Deal made him increasingly confused and he could no longer grasp the direction and pulse of the court.

He looked at Zhang Siwei hesitantly, wanting to ask how the court would deal with him, but Zhang Siwei spoke again, took out a manuscript from his sleeve pocket and changed the subject.

"Mr. Fengzhou, please take a look."

"Mr. Feng Pan, what is this?"

"This is the latest draft of the work plan for the Civilization Construction Steering Committee drawn up by Zhang."

"Wang is now a commoner, can I see it?"

"Mr. Fengzhou is the leader of the Southeast literary world, and your strong support is needed for future work. Mr. Zhang is here with the draft to consult Mr. Fengzhou for advice.

The Emperor often teaches us that when formulating work strategies, we should pool our wisdom and work together. "

Wang Shizhen and Wang Shimao looked at each other.

You really are an official. You can say whatever you want.

Wang Shizhen carefully took the manuscript and flipped through it gently. The more he read, the paler his face became. Sweat beads covered his forehead and his body began to tremble. He looked at Zhang Siwei with extremely terrified eyes.

Wang Shimao, who was sitting next to him, was shocked and curious. What did his brother see that made him lose his composure like that?
Unexpectedly, Wang Shizhen's body went limp, and he fell to his knees, kowtowed repeatedly.

"Mr. Feng Pan, save my entire family!"

(End of this chapter)