In August of the third year of Wanli, a typhoon hit the Songjiang area. Wang Yixiu hurriedly reported to the court, saying that the seawater overflowed, and the water surged more than ten feet, destroying three thousand hectares of farmland, and floating more than ten thousand people's houses. He asked the court to provide relief.
In the stormy Taicang County of Suzhou, Wang Shizhen, who had moved out of the sealed house and rented a new apartment, looked at the bursts of rain in the courtyard, and the sadness in her heart was relieved.
After all, when the storm hit him, it was the same experience for all the people. But hundreds of members of the Wang family endured the storm and thunder that the court gave to his family alone.
Yesterday, the court issued its verdict regarding Wang Shizhen’s cousins Wang Shiwen and Wang Shide and their three children, their brother Wang Shimao’s son Wang Shiluo, and Wang Shizhen’s favorite eldest son Wang Shiqi:
Wang Shiwen, Wang Shide, Wang Shilu, Wang Shiqi and their three brothers were all exiled to Daning.
In the heavy rain, Wang Shizhen could still hear the sound of crying coming from the back room of the rented house.
"It's a total defeat, it's a total defeat! The Wang family is over, the Wang family is over!" The shouts rolled in his heart. Wang Shizhen was so hot that his breathing became rapid, and his tears surged like springs. Waves of sobs were stuck at the bottom of his throat, but he couldn't cry.
Wang Fengzhou, who is nearly half a century old, could never have imagined that this great family, which has been passed down for thousands of years, would fall into an abyss in the era of peace and prosperity. Was it the two brothers Wang Shiwen and Wang Shide who destroyed the Wang family? Was it Hai Rui's?
Is it a tricky one? Is it Zhang Juzheng, who lives in a temple and is in charge of the country? Or is it his good teacher Xu Jie and Xu Huating who turned back?!
While gnashing his teeth, a low cough came from behind. Wang Shizhen wiped his face quickly, and when he turned around to look, it turned out that it was his younger brother Wang Shimao who was hesitating to speak behind him.
Wang Shimao was previously the Minister of Taichang Temple in Nanjing. Due to the Wang family's crimes, he was dismissed from office at the same time as Wang Shizhen. At this time, his eyes were also red. Seeing that there were still tears on Wang Shizhen's face, he whispered: "Brother, don't be sad, doctor."
He said Shijun was fine - he had a convulsion and fever because he was frightened."
Wang Shizhen breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that her youngest son had passed through the gate of hell. He had been an official for many years and experienced many storms. At this time, he calmed down and said with pain in his words:
"What happened to the Wang family? I was the only one who summoned it. In May of this year? There was an earthquake in Yunyang. Did I overestimate my own capabilities? Did I insinuate powerful officials in the "Earthquake Shu" and make enemies with them? That's why my family has such a change! Zhang Juzheng? What a vicious heart!"
After saying that, I shed tears again.
After hearing this, Wang Shimao sighed and said: "Brother is indeed like Meng Lang. He nourishes his ambition internally and uses the tranquility of the Kun Dao as his teaching; he prepares himself externally and uses conspiracies and dangers as danger." What does it have to do with the earthquake? Let alone? Three
You also offended his brother-in-law during the month."
What Wang Shimao said was the beginning of the bad relationship between Wang Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng.
In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing reign, Wang Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng were awarded Jinshi in the same ranking. Of these two in the same year, one is now the chief minister of the empire, and the other is the leader of the literary world and has been publicly recommended as the leader of the literary world for more than ten years? They are both top figures today.
In the same year as them, there was the famous Yang Jisheng. When Yang Jisheng was imprisoned, all the political leaders were silent. Only Wang Shizhen sent decoctions and wrote a letter of grievances on behalf of his wife to Emperor Jiajing. After Yang Jisheng was executed, Wang Shizhen collected his body again.
And went to the execution ground to pay homage.
His hot-blooded act at that time aroused the jealousy of the Yan Party, and his father Wang Yan was caught at fault and was arrested and imprisoned. At that time, two brothers, Wang Shizhen and Wang Shimao, knelt outside the Yan Mansion for several days, but in the end they could not save their father. Wang Yan finally
Sentenced to be beheaded.
Wang Yan's death completely turned a literary young man who was interested in politics into literature, and he became a leader in the literary world in his middle age.
The reason why he was able to gain this position before he was heard is that he is indeed talented on the one hand, and on the other hand, the high reputation accumulated by his family in the process of "defeating Yan" played a role. Anyone who refutes Wang Shizhen's righteousness and writings
, that article was not as convincing as what he wrote.
The relationship between Wang Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng has been very good since the Jiajing Dynasty. After Zhang Juzheng entered the cabinet, Wang Shizhen once praised the visiting Qi Jiguang: "The Prime Minister of Jiangling is a sincere minister of the country. It is a blessing to the country and a blessing to all the people to be the Prime Minister today!"
Of course, he had another purpose in touting Zhang Juzheng in front of Qi Jiguang - to rehabilitate his father Wang Yan. In the early years of Longqing, Gao Gong opposed Wang Yan's rehabilitation and Xu Jie supported it. In the end, the rehabilitation was successful. It cannot but be said that Zhang Juzheng was rehabilitated in the same year.
Credit for central coordination.
Zhang Juzheng was expelled from Hou Bingguo by Gaogong in the sixth year of Longqing, but he continued to take care of Wang Shizhen. He first sent him to take charge of the Huguang Provincial Examination, and wrote to Huguang Governor Shu Nianting to recommend his talents: "The new Wang Lianxian Fengzhou is good at diction.
If you are entrusted with the work of Cheng Shi, I will definitely be able to do it for you and be of benefit to the grand ceremony."
It's a pity that Wang Shizhen didn't appreciate it. His ambition was to write the history of the country in Hanlin Lantai. He had expressed this wish to Zhang Juzheng many times before. However, Zhang Juzheng, as the Yuanfu of the state, also used Wang Shizhen's status as the leader of the literary circle to declare enlightenment to the world's scholars.
In politics, all talents can be put to use, so he was still appointed as a real official.
In just three years, Zhang Juzheng arranged for Wang Shizhen to be appointed as the envoy to Huguang. Within a year, he was transferred to the imperial official position of Taipu Temple. In the beginning of the third year of Wanli, he was transferred to the foreign official position and appointed as the governor of Yunyang. The next person to welcome Wang Shizhen was the minister.
The smooth road to the pavilion.
But Zhang Juzheng's pretty eyes were exposed to a blind man, and Wang Shizhen was distracted at this time. He was conceited about his talent in the world, but had no intention of governing. During his term of office, he handled the land dispute case of Yunyang scholar Xu Shiyan extremely hastily, and Xu Shiyan was behind the scenes.
Standing there was Zhang Juzheng's brother-in-law Wang Hua, who was taken care of by Wang Shizhen, which was equivalent to putting eye drops on Zhang Juzheng.
At that time, Zhang Juzheng looked at the matter from the perspective of Wang Fengzhou, a scholar who had sexual intercourse, and wrote a special letter to Wang Shizhen to explain it to his family. At the same time, he also understood Wang Shizhen and said that what he did was right.
In May of this year, there was an earthquake in Huguang, and Yunyang was also involved. What puzzled the world was that when the Xu Mansion's withdrawal of farmland was causing a stir, Wang Shizhen actually published an article in "Earthquake Shu" to report the disaster and at the same time, he carried out an investigation against Zhang Juzheng.
Attack, implying that powerful ministers exercise absolute power, is the source of all kinds of disasters in the world.
The memorial was retained by Zhu Yijun, and Zhang Juzheng did not say anything to the emperor. But then there was a thunderstorm in the court, and the Wang family was uprooted and collapsed.
At this time, Wang Shizhen, who was suffering from the disaster, asked himself, was his memorial at that time intended to repay Xu Jie's kindness for redressing Wang Yan, or was he jealous of Zhang Juzheng to the point of losing his mind? Or was it both? He asked himself that he couldn't do it.
Wang Shimao couldn't even figure out why his brother suddenly became confused.
Hearing Wang Shimao's accusation at this time, Wang Shizhen was devastated. He was a leader in the literary world, showing off his words, and became a laughing stock all over the world. If Zhang Juzheng framed his family, it would be nothing, but as long as his name is clean, the family will always recover.
day.
However, the "Huang Ming Nanjing Daily" successively exposed the details of his family's participation in the civil uprising, and even published the conversations between them truthfully - this family's reputation has been spread ten miles away, what else does the Wang family have?
Turn over?
In fact, Wang Shizhen wronged Zhang Juzheng at this time, and Zhang Juzheng did not participate much in the entire handling of the Songjiang Civil Rebellion.
All Zhang Juzheng could do was to protect Xu Jie. He also kept his mouth shut and came to protect Wang Shizhen, otherwise he would be jealous of the emperor - Teacher, we were all saved in the same year. What do you, Zhang Juzheng, want to do with the same party and against the dissenters?
What's more, Wang Shizhen had a brain attack and took the initiative to antagonize Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng would be worthy of him if he didn't add insult to injury. As for Zhu Yijun, he judged that Wang Shizhen was just enjoying the popularity, was he clear? He only used to slander the people in power to earn his high salary.
The name Zhu Yijun has been seen a lot in later generations, and all the "public intellectuals" on the Internet are like this.
Therefore, I turn my palms down and show my respect to the scholars in Jiangnan and the world. No matter you are a third-rank official or a leader of scholars, as long as you hinder the imperial court's new policy and want to form associations in Jiangnan, invite names or even manipulate public opinion to obstruct the great government,
All should be ground into powder.
Wang Shizhen, who listened to the storm, shed two more tears in shame. Wang Shimao was afraid that he would be tempted to commit suicide, so he advised: "Brother, there is no need to blame yourself. When Hai Rui was investigating this case, there were also two families, the Xu family and the Zhuang family.
, I just regret that our family doesn’t have the eyesight and these two wonderful people.”
Not mentioning the two families, Wang Shizhen's mouth was full of bitterness when he mentioned them. The old man of the Xu family fought back and buried the four guilty families in the pit, but he didn't lose much of his reputation - Xu Jie's tail-cutting
The survival plan worked. Public opinion in Jiangnan did not think that the Xu family participated in the slave rebellion. If they did, how could they be beaten into the house by hungry people and almost escape?
The banker was even more ruthless. Before Hai Rui could submit the memorial to conclude the case, the banker began to withdraw the land. Originally, his family occupied an area of 130,000 acres. By the time Hai Rui's memorial was submitted, less than 8,000 acres were left.
Subsequently, the banker owner burned the usurious loans owed by his tenants and the unpaid land rent certificates. This action suppressed all the landowners in Jiangnan at that time. Although Shilin didn't react, the common people simply regarded the banker as their own.
Buddha is born in every family.
What's even more amazing is that the banker will make up for the land tax that he has escaped through various methods such as deception, distribution, etc. in one go. With this alone, the money and grain of Jiaxing and Wuxian counties for the three years of Wanli can be fully collected.
What Jiangnan Shilin didn't understand at the time was that the banker did all this without contacting Shilin to make a name for himself or reporting to the court through any channels. Because his family had supported the charity village for many years and had a reputation for charity in Suzhou, so this common people
I don’t know what the outcome is, but I sincerely believe that the withdrawal of the land and other things are all the banker’s good deeds.
Such smart and clever actions will of course be rewarded. After receiving the intelligence from the Jiangnan area, Zhu Yijun, with a flick of his ink pen, excluded the banker from the decree issued.
But in a flash of thought, the emperor, who was at the ninth level, saw that the subsequent encounters between the Zhuang and Wang families were nothing short of worlds apart.