According to Wang Xijue, this poem was "probably written to the two of us." If this is true, then it is indeed a bit "too much to deceive others," especially in the eyes of Shen Shixing and Shen Yuanfu.
Shen Yuanfu was not even very angry when Gao Pragmatic wanted to levy commercial taxes in Jiangnan, let alone angry about it. Why did he get furious when he saw a mere word?
Because this poem hits the key point of Shen Yuanfu.
However, this poem is not Gao Pragmatic's original work. It comes from two ministers during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty.
During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, a couplet circulated in the capital: "The mediocre Prime Minister Cao, the crying Master Dong." At first glance, ordinary people would think that the superficial meaning of this couplet should refer to Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Because,
Cao Cao was the prime minister in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and Dong Zhuo also served as an official to the Grand Master. They are both famous figures, especially among the people.
However, in fact, Prime Minister Cao and Taishi Dong in this couplet refer to two important officials of the imperial court during the Jiaqing period: Cao Zhenyong and Dong Gao.
Cao Zhenyong was a veteran of the Qianlong, Jiaqing, and Daoguang dynasties. He had a prosperous official career and was a highly respected minister. He reached the rank of bachelor of Wuying Palace and the foreman of the military minister. He basically reached the pinnacle of Han ministers.
As an official, Cao Zhenyong was famous for his six-character secret: "Kowtow more and talk less." He later died of illness at the age of eighty-one. After his death, he received the posthumous title "Wenzheng" and became the only Tatar emperor in the past three hundred years.
One of the eight "Wen Zheng".
Dong Gao was an important official of the imperial court during the Jiaqing period of Qianlong. His official title was Grand Bachelor of Wenhua Palace and Minister of Military Machinery. Since after Qianlong, the Grand Bachelor of Baohe Palace was no longer conferred, so the Grand Bachelor of Wenhua Palace became de facto.
The chief minister of the cabinet, so there is no need to say more about Dong Gao's status at that time.
Dong Gao died of illness at the age of seventy-nine. After his death, he was given the posthumous title "Wen Gong". Emperor Jiaqing came to pay his respects in person and wrote an imperial elegiac poem for him: "Only articles can be passed down to sons and nephews, and no money can be used to buy a farm." This was a compliment to Dong Gao.
Gao Qing was honest and upright. Only his articles were handed down from generation to generation, but no money was left to buy the farm.
From this point of view, these should be two very powerful people. So where does the couplet "Mediocre Prime Minister Cao, crying Grand Master Dong" come from? Speaking of which, this is related to the Tianli Sect's attack on the Forbidden City at that time.
In the 18th year of Jiaqing, the Tianli sect spread in Zhili and Henan launched uprisings one after another. In September of that year, a group of about 200 Tianli sects was sent by leader Lin Qing to sneak into the capital. With the cooperation of several eunuchs, they invaded the capital.
The heavily guarded Forbidden City reached as far as Long Zongmen.
However, Emperor Jiaqing was not in the Forbidden City at that time, because before that, he happened to visit Rehe Chengde Summer Resort in the name of hunting.
The emperors of the Qing Dynasty were not nearly confined to the capital like the emperors in the mid-Ming Dynasty, especially after Zhengde. They often moved around, and the reasons were varied. The Ming Dynasty civil servants often used excuses to restrict the emperor's travels.
, such as huge expenditures, backlog of state affairs, intrusion on the people, etc., the Tatar Qing emperor has always looked down upon.
Such a major event occurred in the capital, and the news came quickly. When Emperor Jiaqing received the news, he was on his way back to the capital from Rehe. When he heard that the capital had undergone tremendous changes, he panicked for a moment and did not know what happened to the capital.
What was going on? I suddenly ran out of ideas and immediately asked the princes and ministers around me.
Many princes and ministers accompanied Emperor Jiaqing to the Chengde Summer Resort in Rehe. Most of them suggested staying temporarily and waiting for the next development of the situation. Only Dong Gaoli asked Emperor Jiaqing to return to the capital: "It is to cause chaos.
Well, the prisoner sacrifice has arrived!" Dong Gao said that he was so excited that he burst into tears... This level of performance will definitely win a little gold medal in future generations, and Gao Pragmatic may not be so good at acting.
So where is Cao Zhenyong at this time?
Jiaqing did not take Cao Zhenyong with him when he visited Chengde Summer Resort in Rehe. Cao Zhenyong stayed in the capital at this time and was responsible for handling important military and political affairs.
However, although this Duke is responsible for handling important military and political affairs, his ability to respond may not be reliable. When a group of Tianli believers suddenly attacked the Forbidden City, Cao Zhenyong was surprised and panicked, and did not come up with an effective solution. Unexpectedly,
Jiaqing's second son Minning and a group of princes and grandsons were quite calm. They rushed out of the upper study room carrying shotguns and waist knives to fight, which bought valuable time for the Qing army's counterattack and avoided greater losses.
Soon, the Qing army put down the uprising of the Tianli believers, Cao Zhenyong calmed down, and the entire capital regained peace.
Everyone was well aware of the performance of two important court officials, Cao Zhenyong and Dong Gao, in the uprising of Tianli believers. Therefore, not long after, an unknown person in the capital compiled a couplet to satirize them: "Mediocre Prime Minister Cao
, Crying and crying, Grand Master Dong."
At that time, Cao Zhenyong served as co-organizer of the bachelor's degree and minister of the Ministry of official affairs. Dong Gao was promoted from the bachelor of Wenhua Palace to the title of crown prince and grand master.
This couplet spread a lot in the government and the public, and finally reached the ears of the two parties involved, Cao Zhenyong and Dong Gao. What’s interesting is that these two people may be possessed by Li Chunfang, or they may have developed the magical power to do things in front of them, but they are not angry.
, instead he said half self-deprecating and half self-defeating: "It's not easy to cry when I'm so mediocre at this time."
After this incident, if someone saw Dong Gao and called him "Grand Master" in person, Dong Gao would definitely refuse with a smile and say: "It is not good to have a low surname."
This sentence is easy to understand: the reputation of "Master Dong" in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is really bad. Who wants to be related to him? Just like "People after the Song Dynasty were ashamed to be named Hui, and I am ashamed to be named Qin when I go to my grave."
The principle is the same.
It was not until Dong Gao died of illness and was granted the title of Taifu by the Jin Dynasty that the saying "crying Taishi Dong" gradually disappeared. However, the old couplets disappeared and new jokes came out. As Dong Gao and Cao Zhenyong died of illness one after another, there were rumors in the capital
I wrote a piece of poetry called "One Cut Plum Blossom", which is the one that appears in the previous article.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Cao Zhenyong received the posthumous title of "Wen Zheng" after his death, and Cao Hao received the posthumous title of "Wen Gong" after his death. However, due to "Wen Gong"
"Gong" is not as good as "Wen Zhong", so Gao Pragmatic changed "Wen Gong" in the original text to "Wen Zhong".
This change makes it even more clear that they are deliberately mocking "the two of us" - they are divided into two parts, one is "Wenzheng" and the other is "Wenzhong". It is simply pointing at the nose and mocking.
Shen Shixing was so angry that the practices mentioned in this poem could be blamed on him almost word for word. Especially when he and Wang Xijue both guessed that it was Gao Pragmatic's handwriting, there was one sentence that particularly irritated him.
"The minister is taking care of the economy, and he should not show off his extraordinary achievements, nor talk about his loyalty."
The "economy" here refers to "managing the world and benefiting the people", which is exactly what a "minister" should do, and the minister is "calm" and measured, which is what Shen Shixing has always done, and he often tells people around him.
There is nothing wrong with the first half of the sentence alone, but the problem lies in the last eight words: Don't show off your miraculous skills, don't talk about loyalty.
In the past two years, Shen Shixing often talked to people intentionally or unintentionally about the principle that "those who are good at fighting have no great achievements." Although Wang Xijue was not in the capital, he was a famous person in the world. He often discussed Taoism with others in Suzhou, and often expressed similar views.
.
If it is said that the two of them said this just because they were jealous of Gao Pragmatic's "wonderful achievements", then it would actually be a bit unfair. Jealousy is not without it, but it is indeed not everything.
The two of them are the pillars of the mind-body school. When Gao Pragmatism repeatedly performs extraordinary feats, they must of course encourage and comfort the officials within their own faction to prevent them from being stimulated by Gao Pragmatism. Otherwise, whether they are jealous or even unruly, they will also
Or feel ashamed and give up the fight, which is not what they want to see.
It's just an internal talk, and you don't have to take any responsibility, so what does it matter? But Gao Pragmatic's move today put this on the table, not only implying that these things are not secret at all, but also telling the world
.
This is like having an injury in your private parts that you were ashamed to mention, but now it is exposed in public. Is it intolerable?
Even Shen Yuanfu, a prime minister with such a demeanor, couldn't help but cursed "Shuzi", which shows how cruel he was.
Gao Pragmatic's move, to put it crudely, is like showing off "I control ten women at night" in front of the eunuchs. Not to mention it can make people angry to death, it can make the dead people crawl out of the coffin and pretend to be dead.
If you don't "show miraculous merits", you can't accomplish miraculous feats. To me, doing miraculous feats is as easy and comfortable as drinking a sip of cold water, but for you it is as difficult as climbing to the sky, so you just
If you can't eat the grapes, then you say the grapes are sour.
This is not bullying others too much. What is bullying others too much?
Wang Xijue must have been angry yesterday, so he didn't get furious at this time. He waited for Shen Shixing's angry breathing to subside a little, and then he said: "Yuanfu endured the humiliation and bore the burden, and he has a big plan. Xijue understands this.
Once the words are sung, I am afraid that people all over the world will misunderstand them, and I am especially worried...I am afraid that the younger generation of my school will not understand Yuan Fu's good intentions when they hear them. When the time comes..."
The foundation will be shaken at that time. Shen Shixing can naturally hear such simple meaning. He can not only hear this meaning, but also hear another meaning.
Wang Xijue was dissatisfied with his current "bearing humiliation and bearing the burden", or at least he disagreed with it, but he was the chief minister after all, and he had just recently joined the cabinet, so he didn't want to appear to be too dominant.
Shen Shixing sighed and asked: "In Yuan Yu's opinion, we can only accept the move this time?"
"Of course!" Wang Xijue's face was extremely solemn: "Yesterday we took a step back, today we take another step back, and tomorrow we take another step back... With this step by step retreat, when will the end be reached? In my opinion, the only way is to fight against each other and not give in an inch.
, so that the young son of the Gao family can know that I have someone who is willing to learn from me, and I will not give him half of the credit. In this way, as long as his evil plan does not succeed this time, if he wants to encroach like this in the future, he will have to consider the consequences and think twice."
This statement itself is not unreasonable, and Shen Shixing also agrees. The reason why he does not agree to a head-on confrontation is that he has always been worried about another issue.
The civil service power in Gao Pragmatic's hands was not superior to that of the Xin School, but he had a helping hand: the nobles and the emperor were on his side.
Honorable nobles usually cannot participate in these national policy issues, so they can be ignored for the time being, but the factor of the emperor cannot be ignored. In fact, this factor is still a decisive factor - as long as the emperor insists, no one can do anything.
Yang Tinghe was so powerful at the time, wasn't he eventually driven home by Emperor Shizong to retire? Once the emperor no longer cared about face, civil servants had no ability to restrict him - especially when he had other civil servants available.
It was not Zhang Cong, Gui E and others who were at fault. Shizong might not have been able to do anything against Yang Tinghe back then, but now that there was - and there would definitely be - the emperor still kept his word.
Today's court is not what it was back then. The Shi School has always played the role of Zhang Cong and Gui E, and it is much more powerful than Zhang Cong and Gui E. The Xin School wants to imitate Yang Tinghe, but its waist is far inferior.
Yang Tinghe forced it.
Therefore, what Shen Shixing is always worried about is the problem of losses. A fight with Gao Pragmatism seems to be elated. The battle between the two sides between the ruling and opposition scholars will most likely be dominated by the Xin School. But so what? Gao Pragmatism is for
The Dinghai Jingcha offensive launched by the emperor, once he may face failure, the emperor may be even more uneasy than himself.
No matter what the outcome of the Beijing investigation is, the final decision rests with the emperor. Do you expect the emperor to choose to cut off his own arm? Don’t even think about it.
Therefore, even if you listen to Wang Xijue's opinion and have a head-on confrontation with the Real School, the final result will probably be that the Xin School suffers a loss, whether it is a big loss or a small loss. This is for Shen Shixing, the actual leader of the current Xin School.
, of course I don’t want to see it.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! However, Wang Xijue’s words are also reasonable. It is indeed impossible to retreat step by step. Gao Pragmatic’s current aggressive momentum must be curbed. Otherwise, he has not entered yet.
There is no one in the cabinet who can control it. What will happen if he joins the cabinet in a few years? The spectacle of cabinet ministers suppressing the chief minister and his ministers during the Gao Gong period was about to happen again.
After wandering and hesitating for a long time, Shen Shixing sat back down and asked Wang Xijue: "In addition to the arrangements that have been made before, does Yuan Yu have any good advice for me?"
Wang Xijue said: "There is no good strategy, and there is no need for a good strategy." He said solemnly: "What we are doing this time does not necessarily mean we will win, nor do we necessarily have to win. As long as we don't give in, the Beijing Chariot will be plunged into huge controversy.
Even if the goal is achieved.”
Shen Shixing was a little surprised. After thinking about it, it seemed that his previous words had changed Wang Xijue's view. He no longer insisted on ending the Beijing inspection quickly and overwhelming Gao pragmatism in the Beijing inspection. Instead, he lowered his expectations. As long as he showed
It’s enough if the Xin School’s attitude of not giving in is enough.
Shen Shixing applauded Wang Xijue's change, which was also in line with his previous stance of "setting up a monument and setting up a banner for the righteousness of the world. Don't let people with lofty ideals think that their learning is lost and they have no way to throw themselves into it."
"That being the case, Yuan Yu lets go and do it." Shen Shixing nodded solemnly: "Your Majesty, I will say whatever I need to say and do whatever I need to do."
Wang Xijue took a deep breath, stood up, bowed his body, and said no more, "Thank you Yuan Fu, Xijue is going." After that, he turned around and left.
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