Zhu Cizheng, the fourth prince of Zhu Dynasty, still works as a librarian in the Hanlin Academy.
After a few years, he has obtained the official staff establishment and is still a first-level official. If he works for another two years, he will probably be a ninth-grade official.
This guy is quite heartless. If he hadn't been greeted by the emperor, and if his biological mother hadn't been Tian Fei, he would probably still be a fifth- or sixth-level official. Of course, he also has some advantages. Because he is well-read in miscellaneous books and often writes commentaries, he is now a
A slightly famous literary critic.
"Xiao Zhu, there are new books in the library." Qin Daiwen shouted.
Zhu Cizheng closed the book: "Coming, coming!"
Qin Daiwen is Zhu Cizheng's master, and has become the only grade official (positive ninth grade) in the Hanlin Academy library.
Zhu Cizheng took the servants out and came to the courtyard under the library and asked: "What book?"
"Two sets of "History of the Ming Dynasty", please stamp and sign for them." The official who delivered the books replied.
Zhu Cizheng, who was originally smiling, suddenly became serious: "It's printed so quickly?"
The official said: "How fast? It only takes more than a year for proofreading and typesetting."
The history books compiled by the past dynasties were basically hand-copied in two sets, the original and the second, and then stored in the palace and court. It took many years before they were gradually copied to the people, and it was difficult for ordinary scholars to read them.
So don’t laugh at the Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty who didn’t read history. Before they became officials, they might not have even seen the official history.
Take the "History of the Ming Dynasty" compiled by Datong New Dynasty as an example. The complete set has a total of 3.3 million words. How many brushes would it take to copy it? Zhao Han was willing to spend money and directly let it be printed and published. In one and a half years, 2,000 sets were finally printed.
Except for the 120 sets in the official collection (most of which are sent to universities in various places), the rest are all sold among the private sector. Each set of "History of the Ming Dynasty" sells for 300 taels of silver.
The price is too expensive and it will definitely not be sold out in a short time.
But there is absolutely no need to worry about selling it. There are many book collectors across the country who started buying it one after another after hearing the news.
Zhu Cizheng stamped and signed for it and asked the handyman to take it back to the library. After selecting the bookshelves and putting them away, he quickly found the "Annals" section and looked directly at the Chronicles about Chongzhen.
When his father hanged himself, Zhu Cizheng was still young and did not have much memory. Many years have passed and he can only know what his father was like from the "History of the Ming Dynasty".
After reading the Chronicles of Chongzhen, Zhu Cizhen gained nothing. The main contents were all about national events.
If you want to understand Chongzhen, you have to read "Records of Chongzhen".
"Records of Chongzhen" was also compiled in the New Dynasty of Datong, and together with relevant historical materials, it has been kept in the data room of the "Ming History Editing Group".
"Come here, move things!"
Speaking of Cao Cao, when Cao Cao arrived, the Ming History editing team actually sent materials, and there were more than forty large boxes.
Zhu Cizheng sat there to sign for the receipt, then asked the handyman to move in, and then took two clerks to sort them into categories. The completed books need to be placed on the relevant bookshelf, and some manuscript materials need to be carefully sorted before being bound and placed in the warehouse for safekeeping.
"Records of Chongzhen" is mixed in here. There are many manuscripts that have been revised repeatedly. After the completion of the manuscript, the original copy was copied.
After the compilation of "History of the Ming Dynasty" and "Records of Chongzhen" were completed, many historians of the Hanlin Academy received awards. Take Qian Qianyi as an example, his rank was directly capped and he was awarded the special rank of Guanglu Doctor (first grade). I will compile the book next time
For meritorious service, the title of Prince Shaobao will definitely not be lost.
In the next half month, Zhu Cizheng did nothing in his free time except his own work, and read "Records of Chongzhen" seriously.
Before he finished reading the whole book, Zhu Cizheng already had signs of high blood pressure.
What kind of thing was the imperial court in the late Ming Dynasty all about?
Civil servants, military generals, eunuchs, each one is more outrageous than the last.
At the end of the book, there is also a comment written by Zhao Han himself: "Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty was diligent in political affairs and headstrong. He acted like a middle-aged man, but he was unable to save the country and fell. The fall of the Ming Dynasty was due to the failure of finance and taxation. The failure of finance and taxation,
It stems from the corruption of the system. The Ming Dynasty actually died due to party strife. Parties are united and opposed by different parties. This has been going on since ancient times. Why did the Ming Dynasty collapse so quickly? I can see this from the Wanli abolition of government..."
Rather than commenting on Chongzhen, it is better to comment on why officialdom accelerated corruption in the late Ming Dynasty.
Before Wanli's neglect of government, no matter how fierce the party strife was, it could still keep from collapsing. Since Wanli's collapse, the Ming Dynasty has completely slipped into the abyss. Officials retired, resigned or died of illness, the emperor did not allow new officials to take office, and central officials were vacant.
Most of the local officials are also absent from their posts.
No matter how greedy the officials are, it is still better than no officials at all!
The Ming Dynasty in the last years of Wanli almost turned into an anarchic society. When there were problems in the states and counties, no governors could be found. When there were problems in the provinces, the central government could not find ministers to take charge. As a result, powerful eunuchs and gentry stepped forward to fill in the gaps.
The power of the imperial court and the government was vacant, and they quickly controlled all aspects of the country.
Land annexation intensified exponentially, and the imperial court's income decreased crazily. Wanli also liked to send mining supervisors and tax envoys, which completely disrupted the business environment across the country, and the industry, agriculture, and commerce were in full decline.
Zhu Cizhen had always felt that the Ming Dynasty fell because of treacherous ministers. Now after reading "Records of Chongzhen" and Zhao Han's comments, he finally understood it more deeply.
His father, Chongzhen, was only a helmsman with ordinary skills, but he had to sail a broken ship full of holes. While sailing, he repaired it, and there were water bandits around him. The crew also removed the nails while repairing the ship.
, ship planks, and sails, wanting to take them back to their home after docking. What's more, they flirted with the water bandits. Or, the crew members were busy fighting among themselves, and took the initiative to pull the water bandits on board to harm their opponents.
This broken ship of the Ming Dynasty was sunk unjustly.
"My husband came back so early?"
"Well, nothing happened today."
Zhu Cizheng is already married, the daughter of a bookseller, and the couple is quite affectionate.
As for his two elder brothers, Zhu Cixiang served as the magistrate of Chunhua County in Shaanxi, and Zhu Cijiong served as the governor of Duyun Prefecture in Guizhou.
As for her elder sister, Zhu Yuluo, she is still unmarried due to special reasons. She studied painting with her relative Zhu Da and now specializes in illustrating novels. Of course, she is not as good as famous artists, so her fees are relatively low, but she can basically support herself.
"Where's sister?" Zhu Cizheng asked.
"Study..." the wife said and suddenly rushed out, but her son urinated and mud, rolled it into a ball of mud and smashed it against the wall, making the white courtyard wall really beautiful.
"Wow wow wow~~~~"
The cry of a child was heard in the courtyard, and Zhu Cizheng was angry and funny.
"Dong dong dong!"
"Sister, it's me."
"come in."
Zhu Yuyao is painting a statue of Bodhisattva. Her employer is an old lady from a well-off family. This kind of business does not make much money. After taking into account the cost of painting paper and paint, the profit is only one or two pounds of eggs.
Zhu Yuyao put down her brush, raised her head and said, "It's very early to go home today. Why don't you stay in the Hanlin Academy to read?"
"I've read all of dad's records these days," Zhu Cizheng said.
Zhu Ainao was stunned for a moment and remained silent.
Zhu Cizheng lamented: "It's not easy for me either. The world is in war and the people are in dire straits. It's not all my responsibility."
Zhu Yusao asked: "The Hanlin Academy edited the book, didn't it make my father a villain?"
"There are good and bad things," Zhu Cizhen explained. "I heard that "Chongzhen Records" has been revised more than ten times. His Majesty said that it should be compiled to be accurate and true. The father in the book is diligent and thrifty, and he can be considered a good emperor, but he is headstrong and wise.
People don’t know.”
Zhu Ailao sighed: "Well, how can one be considered a good emperor if he is stubborn and doesn't know people well? Let's not talk about that. Today, my third brother has a letter from home. He has been transferred to Guiyang to work, and he also gave me a new mailing address."
"Third brother has been promoted?" Zhu Cizheng said happily.
"No, it doesn't count. He was not promoted in rank, but he was promoted to an important position. The Shangguan who promoted him is the nephew of his eldest brother's teacher... his teacher in Beijing." Zhu Yuyao said.
Zhu Cizheng was speechless for a moment. Although their brothers and sisters had perished, they still enjoyed the blessings of the Zhu family most of the time.
After sitting there for a long time, Zhu Cixiang said, "It's just a shame, sister."
"It's good to be alone. I'm used to it." Zhu Aao smiled.
Zhu Cizheng quickly changed the subject: "Many foreigners came to Nanjing, including several from France and Persia, who were allowed to visit the Hanlin Academy. These foreigners did not engage in serious learning and only asked for advice on painting techniques every day. It seems that they
The emperor was also a coward, who did not care about the common people but only about calligraphy and painting, just like Huizong of the Song Dynasty."
Zhu Yusao said: "Master often says that Western painting methods also have merits, which should not be underestimated."
Zhu Yuluo's master was Zhu Da. Strictly based on seniority, Zhu Da belonged to Zhu Yuluo's great-uncle.
Zhu Da was ordered by the emperor to communicate with missionary painters and integrate Eastern and Western painting methods, which has produced some results. He is different from his own historical painting style and different from Castiglione's painting style. He absorbed some techniques of European oil painting and loved it.
Create bold and bold freehand brushwork with rich ink and color.
Last year, Zhu Dajin presented a painting of "Ten Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers", which now hangs in the Emperor's Qianqing Palace.
The missionary painter Li Zhicheng, who also accepted the emperor's order to combine Chinese and Western styles, is magically close to Castiglione. His paintings are delicate, solemn, elegant and noble, and are deeply loved by dignitaries.
The two siblings chatted for a while, and then Zhu Cizheng's wife called for dinner.
The family also hired two servants, a cook and a cleaning maid.
After dinner, we went back to our rooms.
Zhu Aelao continued to paint Bodhisattvas, while Zhu Cizheng wrote novels.
This old man had read too many miscellaneous books and did not want to engage in literary criticism anymore, so he planned to write a masterpiece by himself. This idea was born in the early spring of this year, when someone serialized "Feng Yue Bao Jian" in a newspaper, which inspired Zhu Cizhen to have a comparative idea.
Heart.
Once "Feng Yue Bao Jian" was serialized, Nanjing paper was not only expensive, but it was also widely recited.
The protagonist's name is Jia Baoyu, he was born with a piece of jade in his mouth, and it also writes about Nanjing events in the old dynasty.
Everyone is guessing who the author is, but when the newspaper serialized it, it only signed "Anonymous". This further aroused the curiosity of readers, and they speculated whether it was a descendant of a certain lord in the previous dynasty, or it was said to be a certain clan relative of the previous dynasty.
.
Zhu Cizheng was writing furiously in his room, when suddenly Zhu Yuyao knocked on the door and said: "Fourth brother, the Dragon Boat Festival will be in two days, and we will go to the palace to pay homage to the festival. Don't go out to hang out again, you will have forgotten last year."