Chapter 349: Self-attack

For scholars all over the world, this Mid-Autumn Festival ceremony was an extremely painful memory. It can be called the most serious setback that scholars suffered after the Yongle Year. Even in the years when Emperor Yingzong was the most ridiculous and the most arrogant, the scholars had never suffered such insults or contempt.

Dismiss the cabinet ministers! Kill the Shangshu! The Shangshu, the assistant minister, the doctor, and the doctor are mostly detained. Everyone in the court is in danger. All scholars in the world are frightened. They are even wondering whether they are in a dream. If not, how could the great situation over the years be ruined in the blink of an eye?

This horrifying news was first spread in the capital, but it soon spread to the surrounding areas of the capital and spread to various places.

Most scholars are shocked; those who are fame and fortune even cry and can hardly control themselves. What are the hard work of everyone studying hard? Isn’t it just to become an official in the court? Entering the cabinet and becoming a minister is the ultimate ideal. As long as you can get along with the extremely sacred Wenyuan Pavilion, your descendants will benefit you endlessly.

But who would have thought that the noble ministers would be knocked out of dust for one day, and they didn't even enjoy the treatment of resignation, but were directly dismissed!

How is this possible? How is this possible!

If there were no more news, I was afraid that the petitioners would be crowded with people outside Chengtian Gate, and there would be many scholars in the alleys to stand up to preach the court's rebellious actions to the people, thereby setting off an unprecedented wave of public opinion and putting pressure on the emperor.

However, despite the anger of the masses, most people dare not speak out.

The Minister of War was rumored to be headed to the Nine Borders! The Minister of Justice was detained and awaited trial! The Minister of Revenue was confiscated and questioned! The officials of the third rank and above in the court were reduced by more than half! More than three hundred officials of the fifth rank and above were interrogated!

Now, all the important officials in the court, including Li Dongyang, were silent. Who dared to jump out at this time? Combined with the recent ***, who can't see the emperor's determination to settle the matter?

Bite the emperor and fight for the Qingming are actually technical tasks. Before jumping out, it is very necessary to judge the situation. If you jump out regardless of the occasion, even if you fight for the Qingming, you will probably have no life to enjoy it.

No one paid too much attention to the reorganization of the Censorate, which was finally approved at the court meeting. Compared with the major events such as the deposed ministers, the small Censorate is still a branch of the lower house, which is really not worth worrying about.

But until after the scattered court, when they saw the changes in the capital, everyone was shocked to realize that Xie Hong's goal was to completely control public opinion.

Before the court meeting ended, the Jinyiwei divided into small teams and led the troops from the Beijing camp to inspect the capital. As long as they saw scholars trying to gather in the street to preach the great power, they would immediately take it down on the charge of illegal assembly;

If someone makes bad comments on Zhengde in various forms, once discovered, they will be immediately arrested for slandering the government or being disrespectful.

Although the scholars had a great influence, they still needed a terminal channel. As soon as Xie Hong used this trick, he immediately cut off the influence of Shilin public opinion on the people within the capital.

The scholars in the capital were shocked by this thunderous method. The stage where scholars showed their character was always a court that attracted thousands of people, not on the execution ground or under the butcher's knife.

Otherwise, there would not have been such a tragic incident as the Five Barbarians invading China and the Mongols' Tartars who entered the Central Plains. You must know that the reality of the world is in charge of the gentry. If they work together to resist, what are the small foreign Tartars? They are just not good at showing their character under the butcher's knife.

Moreover, scholars’ history books are not read in vain. They know very well that the rise of imperial power may be just a flash in the pan. Over the years, even if they meet the strongest emperor, the one who laughs the last must be a scholar.

Emperor Wu of Han was very strong, but after his death, Huo Guang immediately dominated the court and played with the emperor in his palms. Taizu of this dynasty was also very strong, but after his death, Emperor Jianwen was still allowed to play with him? Chengzu was also capable of suppressing the court. Not to mention that after his death, the power of scholars had already risen at the end of Yongle. Wasn't Wenyuan Pavilion the rule set during the Yongle period?

Nowadays, the priest is only in his prime, how could he be able to compete with these genius emperors? Even if he is the first jester from ancient times to the present, the final victory still belongs to the scholars.

But besides a few nerds, scholars also knew that even if the imperial power would bow their heads in the end, anyone who greeted him at the moment when the imperial power was raised would undoubtedly end up in pieces.

What's more, the emperor is coming in a fierce manner and is very likely to win. The old ministers and ministers have fallen out of their way. At this time, it will definitely take considerable courage to meet them.

However, not daring to scold the emperor and powerful ministers does not mean that the scholars will remain silent. After a chaotic period, the scholars reached a tacit understanding again and unified the voice.

A gentleman is like water, pushing the strong but becoming weak. Since he can't get rid of the treacherous, the spearhead of the people in the scholars and forests quickly turned. This time they scolded the important officials in the court, and the chief minister Li Dongyang was the first to be affected.

The emperor passed such a resolution at the court meeting. Of course, the officials present were responsible for this. The higher the status, the greater the responsibility. Li Dongyang, the cabinet minister, had no choice but to be responsible.

Although Liu Jian and Xie Qian have a high status, these two people have been dismissed for disobeying the emperor. No matter what the final charge is, the scholars are applauding their behavior.

The strong sense of justice certainly thinks that the two are upright and hate evil, and are a model of scholars all over the world; the rest of the people either think that after fewer people in the court, they will be vacant of many places and their families may get opportunities; or they will be purely harming their species. If it weren't for the treacherous and evil flames, they might even immediately write books and biography for the two old masters.

The rest of Liu Daxia, Min Gui and others were also regarded as martyrs in the sect. Many of them were secretly determined to overturn the verdict for several adults, especially Liu Shangshu, to commemorate their noble character. Of course, this is not possible now, so everyone should keep a useful body and wait for the future.

The wave of condemnation almost submerged Li Dongyang and the important officials who remained in the court. They were in corpses and were left alone! They were inclined to be in power! Even excessive words such as gentle and sweeping the floor appeared. They would be arrested if they scolded the emperor, but no one cared about the court officials. So what are you waiting for? Just scold them!

Although scholars are using this to vent their fear and depression in their hearts, many ordinary people have joined in the fun and joined the tide of scolding. The momentum is approaching the tide that has declaring Xie Hong a few days ago, which makes the ministers at the center of the tide feel panic and restless.

"Master Li, you have to think of a solution! You can't continue like this anymore. Now the treacherous and evil flames are rising. It is the time when we and the scholars work together. How can we attack each other at this time? Isn't this to make the relatives suffer and the enemy happy?"

At the beginning of the court meeting, Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, not only spoke, but also cried for a while, but Zhengde ignored him, and later he was even more frightened. He did not speak again until the court meeting ended. It can be seen that it is suitable to scare this thing for all ages and young people. It can not only stop the children from crying at night, but also be useful for the old man.

Moreover, disasters never come in singularly. The trick that never goes unfavorable during the Hongzhi period not only hit the emperor's back, but also did not help the current situation at all.

In the past two days, both scholars and students from the Imperial College have been crazy, not trying to persuade the emperor, but they all come to stop their own roads and curse the streets. Ordinary people dare not stop him and start cursing, but they are all whispering behind their backs and pointing their fingers. It feels so uncomfortable that the thousands of people are pointing at them!

Moreover, if this continues, it goes without saying that where should the court be placed? It is not easy enough for him to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens, but he still cannot get the understanding of outsiders. Zhang Sheng felt so sad that he could not hold Li Dongyang's legs and cry.

"This matter..." In fact, Li Dongyang felt even more distressed than Zhang Sheng. When it comes to enduring humiliation, he was his biggest goal. At least half of the scolding in the capital these two days was for him. Moreover, he had to deal with Zhengde and Xie Hong in a vain manner. Those two young men were worse than the other. It was easier for him!

What made him most sad was that he knew how this tide of rituals came about. In addition to Xie Hong's intentional or unintentional guidance and indulgence, the tragedy was initiated and the target was their former colleagues, and the leader was the Grand Secretary Xie Qian.

At the court meeting a few days ago, Liu and Xie were dismissed with advice, but Li Dongyang couldn't hesitate and could remain in office. Liu Jian was fine. He was discouraged and did not say bad things to each other, and even encouraged Li Dongyang.

But Xie Qian was not so calm. At that time, he was very angry with Li Dongyang and had many accusations. Although Liu Jian was persuaded, Li Dongyang knew that this grudge had been buried and it would probably take a long time to calm him down.

Xie Qian's excitement is understandable, because of the high level of participation, the Jiangnan scholars suffered heavy losses. Gu Zuo, who was confiscated, Min Gui, who was detained and convicted, and Shi Lin, the Minister, were all backbone figures of Jiangnan Shi Lin, let alone Xie Qian, the Grand Secretary.

During the period, the power of the people in the Jiangnan court was almost the same as a few years ago. How could they accept this? How could Xie Qian, the leader of the Jiangnan Shilin, face it calmly?

However, the centipede worm died without being stiff. Although the losses were heavy, because the target of Zhengde's attack was mainly high-ranking officials, the power of the scholars in the capital in the south of the Yangtze River was not damaged. Perhaps because he felt that he could not confront Xie Hong for the time being, Xie Qian seemed to vent his anger and pointed his target at his former colleagues, which then set off this tide of rituals.

"...Where did Xie Hong come from such a lot of plans at such a young age? He actually played us on the applause. It's really...ah!" Li Dongyang sighed and felt a lot of emotion.

He knew that Zhang Sheng meant to persuade Xie Qian to calm the tide, but how could things be so easy? Xie Qian is also an old fox. He has already pointed out that he criticized himself and others, so how could he listen to his advice? He would probably be turned away when he came to his house.

"What do you say about Ge Lao Li?" Zhang Sheng was stunned.

Now no one can look at Xie Hong with the same eyes as before. Even if he says contempt, he always attaches great importance to the other party. Rather than saying that he is a jester who only knows how to please, would it be better to say that he is a scheming and powerful minister. His series of actions in the court meeting were all his ideas behind the emperor?

However, although he is vicious and scheming, Yu Chao's matter should have little to do with him, right? Who doesn't know that this time it was also led by Xie Qian and the scholars in Jiangnan?

"Brother Bai Ya, on the surface, Zi Qiao took the matter, but in fact, Xie Hong buried the line, which led to Zi Qiao's next action." Li Dongyang shook his head and explained:

"Although the first emperor to deal with Zhang Gongshi, in fact, most of the detained people were from Jiangnan. Originally, I thought it was too angry and went out to persuade people from Jiangnan. This is how it was. But when I recalled it later, it was not the case. The emperor did it on purpose."

"What Master Li means..." Zhang Sheng's brows also frowned. At that time, he was shocked by Zhengde's murderous aura and did not pay much attention to the situation in the hall.

Li Dongyang pondered and said, "Take Shi Lin as an example. In fact, he did not go out to persuade him. With Min Gui first, he had no need to keep up, but the emperor just included him on the list of detention. According to my later inquiry, there were many people in Jiangnan who were like this, so I concluded that the emperor did it on purpose."

"Then the emperor is planning to weaken the Jiangnan power and then support other powers to balance it?" Although Li Dongyang said cautiously, Zhang Sheng's brow opened a little, obviously letting go of some of his worries.

To pull one sect and fight another is a common method in political struggle, and the higher the position, the more they like to use it. What makes Zhang Sheng feel at ease is that although this method will cause scholars to fight in the internal struggle, it will not damage the vitality of the scholar class. It is nothing more than one rises and another. After going around, those positions are disciples of saints and children of Confucianism.

Throughout history, many emperors have incited internal struggles between ministers in the court, thinking that they played the ministers in their hands and boasted of their own strategies. But in fact, they are only themselves who are played with.

The nature of scholars or bureaucrats is to fight. Although the theory of survival of the world has not been summarized, the scholars and officials rarely become completely united, and the constant internal struggle is their norm.

Therefore, after hearing Li Dongyang's comment on this, Zhang Sheng also breathed a sigh of relief.

The emperor and Xie Hong were not afraid of playing tricks. What they were afraid of was that the two did not follow the conventional methods. If it weren't for those incredible methods, how could the two young men have been able to play with them, these old foxes?

Zhang Sheng even had a thought in his mind, whether to take this opportunity to step on the Jiangnan scholars. He had long been disliked by those Jiangnan people. They were all rich and wealthy, but they still had to come to the court to compete for food and leave a way for others to survive? Now the evil people are frustrated by the evil people, which is worth it!
Chapter completed!