Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 206 The saint of the time, Ishimi Ginzan!
Under the imperial edict.

All academies in the capital, from the highest institution of learning, the Imperial College, and below, were closed and the scholars were expelled.

Just when the scholars were confused and the intellectual community was shocked, the emperor's will reached them, and the whole country banned the study of the mind.

Those who teach and impart the philosophy of mind and those who follow Yangming’s philosophy will be punished for committing a serious crime of treason.

An old Confucian scholar spoke harshly in public, cursing the corrupt officials in power and the emperor for being incompetent and destroying the teachings of the sages. Then, an envoy in brocade robes arrived and beat him to death on the spot.

Some scholars were dissatisfied with the power of the Jinyi Guards and wanted to call on others to attack them, but they were also caught by the Jinyi Guards and beaten to death in front of everyone.

Even a clay figure can have temper. Many scholars expressed their dissatisfaction and wanted to compete with the Jinyiwei.

The Jinyiwei were well prepared. They dipped the large brushes they had prepared in special ink and threw them among the scholars to mark them.

Next, more Jinyiwei appeared on the scene. After drawing out their Embroidered Spring Swords, they would kill any scholar whose body was stained with ink.

The scholars realized that something was wrong and turned around to run, but they were blocked by the crowd. In the chaos, many scholars were pushed to the ground and trampled to death.

The scholars on the periphery could run away during the chaos, but the special ink could not be wiped off or washed off no matter how hard they tried. The Jinyiwei guarding the streets and alleys would kill the marked scholars with their swords when they saw them.

A long and wide street was stained with blood and littered with countless corpses.

The bones of scholars can be seen everywhere.

The Nanjing Scholars' Disaster reappeared in the capital city, which is recorded in history as: the Tianjie Scholars' Disaster.

In order to punish the scholars who were dissatisfied with the ban on the study of the mind, the cabinet quickly announced that from that day on, the court would stop all rice subsidies to those who had made contributions.

Scholars were no longer among those supported by the imperial court.

Countless people who followed the School of Mind and Yangming School of Mind shouted and cursed Zhang Juzheng and his cabinet in their hearts for betraying their teachers and ancestors, violating human ethics, and they would not die a good death.

There were also followers of other academic disciplines who tried to protest, saying that their own school was innocent and should not be implicated by the School of Mind, and they shouted that they were wronged.

The Hanlin scholars of the Hanlin Academy came to the Cabinet's residence collectively and asked Zhang Juzheng's cabinet for an explanation.

However, having learned from past experience, no one dared to rush into the cabinet again, and they just stood there waiting for an explanation.

But right in front of the cabinet, the Hanlin who studied different disciplines actually launched an attack on the School of Mind and the Yangming School of Mind, accusing the School of Mind of harming the country and hurting others and themselves.

Even the followers of the School of Mind had many objections to it, but after all, it was the academic discipline that was closest to the living saints. The Hanlin scholars of the School of Mind occupied as much as half of the Hanlin Academy, and they were able to fight against many enemies alone and not be at all inferior.

Mocking other disciplines and even mocking Confucianism as useless, this kind of broadsword attack completely angered the Hanlin scholars of other disciplines.

A vicious fight ensued, and he raised his fist at the followers of Yangming's School of Mind. He hit one of them in the face, causing his nose to bleed immediately.

"beat!"

"Hit him!"

"Hit them!"

"Beat those bastards to death!"

"..."

Hundreds of Hanlin scholars fought each other in front of the gate of the Cabinet, their heads were broken and bloody, their official robes were torn, and they were no better than street thugs.

This fierce fight was witnessed in its entirety by Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang, and everyone had a frown on their face.

To be honest, the emperor has carried out several rounds of purges in the officialdom, and all the Hanlin, Jinshi and Juren who have some ability in the capital have been entrusted with important tasks by the court.

Those who have never been promoted are either corrupt scholars or wastes. The Hanlin Academy today is a combination of both.

He is both a corrupt scholar and a waste!
"Let's abolish the Hanlin Academy," Gao Gong suggested.

The Hanlin Academy was an institution established in the early Tang Dynasty to serve the palace. It housed talents in literature, classics, divination, medicine, monks, Taoists, calligraphy and painting, and chess, and accompanied the emperor in banquets and entertainment. It was collectively called the Hanlin Academy and was not an official government office.

After the late Tang Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy evolved into an important institution specializing in drafting secret imperial edicts and was known as the "Emperor's private servant."

Those who serve or have served in the academy are called Hanlin officials, or Hanlin for short.

After the Song Dynasty, it became an official position and was integrated with the imperial examination system.

After the Ming Dynasty, most of its functions were replaced by the Cabinet, and it became a place to nurture talents and store hope. It was responsible for compiling books and writing history, drafting imperial edicts, serving as a reader for members of the royal family, and serving as an examiner for the imperial examinations.

A noble status is a stepping stone to becoming a senior cabinet minister or even a local official.

This is how the rumor came about: "Only Jinshi can enter the Hanlin Academy, and only Hanlin can enter the Cabinet."

It can be said that regardless of their political status, in the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties, Hanlin scholars were always the highest-ranking group of scholars in society, concentrating the elites among the literati and having a superior status in the court and the country.

Zhang Jiuling and Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty, Su Shi, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Sima Guang of the Song Dynasty, Song Lian and Fang Xiaoru of the Ming Dynasty, including the current Zhang Juzheng cabinet, except Hu Zongxian, are all Hanlin scholars.

The bright prospect of becoming a Hanlin scholar also led to a large number of scholars pursuing Hanlin academic studies after their names on the imperial examinations, without having the experience of governing a local government, which directly or indirectly wasted a lot of talent.

The Ming Dynasty emphasized culture over military affairs, and many benefits came from the Hanlin Academy.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the Hanlin Academy still had the function of drafting imperial edicts and articles for the emperor. But in the Ming Dynasty, the Cabinet took away too much work from the Hanlin Academy. The Hanlin Academy had no chance to touch imperial edicts. As for drafting articles, for example, the Qingci that the current emperor liked, was also completed by the cabinet elders.

Moreover, after Chen Yiqin entered the local area and began to "survey the land and distribute the land equally to the people", he became more and more aware of his own shortcomings and the true meaning of "Hanlin is useless". He once wrote a letter to the cabinet, mentioning the abolition of the Hanlin Academy.

But at that time, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong and Li Chunfang all thought that they were also Hanlin graduates and they had crossed the river from Hanlin, and they could not tear down the bridge after crossing the river.

Seeing the performance of the Hanlin scholars at this time, Gao Gong's only comment was, "If you want to cross the river, you will cross the river."

The bridge of Hanlin Academy leads not to the other side, but to the abyss.

Zhang Juzheng turned to look at Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang and asked, "Ruzhen, Zishi, what do you think?"

"I agree with what the Second Prime Minister said." Hu Zongxian said without hesitation.

He was not from a Hanlin family, but when his mentor Yan Song was in power, he was ridiculed by many Hanlin scholars and officials from Hanlin family. With new and old grudges, he naturally supported the abolition of the Hanlin Academy.

Li Chunfang hesitated for a while, and finally nodded and said, "I agree."

From then on, the memorial to abolish the Hanlin Academy, proposed by Chen Yiqin and collectively approved by the cabinet, was submitted to the Yuxi Palace.

Not long after, Yuxi Palace issued an imperial edict in red ink, which indicated "approval". When the edict reached the cabinet, the Hanlin scholars were still fighting.

But after fighting for such a long time, there was not even a serious injury. Hu Zongxian stopped watching after a while. The cabinet guards just stood there, each with a knife on his waist, ready to go over and chop.

Useless trash who can't even cut someone.

After receiving the emperor's order, Zhang Juzheng ordered the cabinet guards to go out, stop the meaningless fight, strip everyone of their imperial uniforms, and drive them out of the palace.

……

The sun was still high in the sky, its afterglow shining through the window lattices into the government hall. It was time to end the class.

Usually, Zhang, Gao, Hu, and Li always felt that time passed too quickly, as if they had just entered the yamen and it was time to leave. Today, there was a commotion outside the cabinet door, and they finished their government affairs early. Then they felt that the day passed too slowly, and when the time came, they were dismissed early.

Over the past six months, cabinet members had almost gotten used to following the cabinet chief on duty day and night. Many of them were still not used to the sudden end of their shift, and only hurried home after being reminded by their peers.

In front of the prime minister’s residence.

Zhang Juzheng's six-man sedan slowly descended, and the housekeeper Zhang An hurried forward to welcome the old man back to the mansion, and whispered a reminder: "Old man, be careful."

Zhang Juzheng was stunned. The housekeeper's words were obviously not a reminder for him to be careful when getting off the sedan chair. He looked up and saw a person who looked both familiar and unfamiliar.

The man was straightforward. He shook his sleeves, clasped his hands, and walked over, smiling heartily, "Master Prime Minister, do you still remember me?"

This Taizhou accent instantly evoked Zhang Juzheng's memory, and he suddenly said, "Isn't this He Xinyin? We met at Tianshou Mountain six years ago."

What is hidden?

The head of the Taizhou School of Yangming Philosophy in contemporary times.

He was born in the 12th year of Zhengde, eight years older than Zhang Juzheng, and came from a prominent family.

He was a child prodigy since childhood and was extremely intelligent. At the age of 30, he became the top scorer in the Jiangxi Provincial Examination. If it were someone else, a bright future would have been right in front of him.

But after Li Yuan, He Xinyin suddenly gave up the imperial examination and turned to seek ways to "save the Ming Dynasty".

And just at that time, He Xinyin came into contact with Wang Xue of Taizhou and threw himself in regardless of everything.

The Taizhou School, as a branch of the School of Mind, was founded by Wang Gen, a disciple of Wang Yangming, and belongs to the radical faction within the School of Mind.

Coincidentally, in the Yangming School of Wang Xizhi, the school that stood opposite to the Taizhou School was the Jiangyou School of Wang Xizhi of Nie Bao and Xu Jie.

He Xinyin and Zhang Juzheng are like the left and right representatives of Yangming's philosophy of mind.

The two men embarked on completely different life paths. Zhang Juzheng believed that if he wanted to "save the Ming Dynasty", he had to reach the pinnacle of his official career and then use power to change it.

Like most of the disciples of the Taizhou School, He Xinyin returned to the people and sought ways to save the Ming Dynasty from the perspective of ordinary people.

He Xinyin devoted himself to Wang Gen's disciple Yan Jun, seeking the truth to save the country and the people. Yan Jun was more anti-traditional than his teacher Wang Gen. He Xinyin took another step forward. Later, the Taizhou School, which was a subdivision of Confucianism, had gone beyond the scope of Confucianism by the time of Yan Jun and He Xinyin.

After several years of practice, He Xinyin felt that his theory had matured and he had formed the idea of ​​"harmony", so he prepared to verify the theory on three levels to save the Ming Dynasty.

The first level is still about thought. He believes that desire is human instinct and opposes Zhu Xi's "preserve the laws of nature and eliminate human desires". He believes that one should satisfy reasonable personal desires and restrain excessive desires.

The second level is to seek to achieve harmony between officials and the people. Officials should share the same desires as the people, that is, "power should be used for the people, feelings should be connected to the people, and benefits should be sought for the people."

The third level is to seek to achieve harmonious relationships between people, where everyone is equal in personality and everyone is a teacher or friend.

The three levels seem to be "fantasies" based on classical Confucian thought.

But He Xinyin did not evolve to the point of breaking the old world and building a new one. His essence was still to reform the Ming Dynasty, and it was a budding fantasy.

Without enough strength and courage, and even without the courage to destroy the old order and establish a new order, failure is inevitable.

In the 32nd year of the Jiajing reign, He Xinyin founded Juhetang to verify the ideas of the Liang clan.

But the Taizhou School's own "innocence" and "beautiful" ideas were destined to not withstand the test of time.

Only six years later, in the 39th year of Jiajing, the magistrate of Yongfeng County increased taxes, which caused the Liang clan to resist. The resistance was met with suppression by the Yongfeng County Government, resulting in six deaths and injuries. This aroused He Xinyin's dissatisfaction, and he wrote a letter to the magistrate of Yongfeng County, criticizing and ridiculing him.

As the saying goes: "A county magistrate ruins a family, and a prefect exterminates an entire clan." After all, He Xinyin was a county magistrate, so he was soon thrown into jail.

But Wang Xuezhong of Taizhou was no pushover. He quickly made the Yongfeng County Magistrate confused and pulled He Xinyin out of prison.

However, the magistrate of Yongfeng County was a man who attached great importance to his reputation. The more he took a step back, the angrier he became. The more he endured, the more he felt at a disadvantage. So he submitted a memorial to the capital.

The other crimes of He Xinyin reported by the Yongfeng County Magistrate were easy to deal with. The people of Wang Xuezhong in Taizhou could always solve them. If all else failed, they could ask other people of the Xinxue School to solve them.

However, He Xinyin taught the children of the Liang clan that "having no father and no king does not mean patricide or regicide" and that among the five relationships, friendship is the most important.

This is obviously unacceptable to all kings, fathers, and mentors.

The current emperor is the 'king and father' of all the people of the Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of the emperor, He Xinyin is courting death. An imperial decree was issued, and He Xinyin had to flee in hiding.

After the loss of He Xinyin, the changes in the Liang clan in Yongfeng County were also forcibly corrected.

Over the past year, He Xinyin traveled to Beijing, Fujian, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Jiangxi and other places to give lectures. He had many students, and his so-called "gathering and harmony" thought had many followers among the people. He Xinyin gradually became known as a saint of the time.

"Thank you, Prime Minister, for remembering me. I have specially prepared something to express my gratitude."

He Xinyin waved to the students behind him, and dozens of strong men came slowly over carrying two things covered with red cloth, and stood still in front of the prime minister's residence and landed.

As the red cloth was lifted, two stone statues of Baxia appeared in front of Zhang Juzheng. He Xinyin pointed at the stone statues and sneered, "These two Baxia statues will guard the house for the Prime Minister from now on!"

Zhang Juzheng's face darkened. He ignored He Xinyin, stepped over the sedan chair and headed towards the mansion.

But He Xinyin was relentless and kept asking, "Master Prime Minister, you should ask why the Prime Minister's Mansion is so restless!"

Zhang Juzheng climbed the stairs and said casually, "Please give me some advice, Brother Zhuqian (He Xinyin's pen name)." "First, it is you, Zhang Juzheng, who betrayed your teacher and ancestors. Second, it is you, Zhang Juzheng, who is in vain. You submitted petitions to ban and destroy the School of Mind, leaving countless followers of the School of Mind homeless. The brilliant words and knowledge of the sage are going to be buried deep in the pavilion, never to see the light of day. Zhang Juzheng, you'd better be careful. Don't let your mansion and the ancestral tomb of your Zhang family be torn apart by people's scolding!" He Xinyin roared loudly with a deep breath.

Those who ban and destroy the study of the mind are like beasts!
Zhang An saw this and immediately shouted, "Come here, arrest this lunatic!"

The servants and guards of the prime minister's residence immediately followed the butler's orders and rushed forward to capture He Xinyin.

Zhang Juzheng said, "Back off."

The servants and guards retreated obediently. Zhang Juzheng stopped and looked at He Xinyin with a bitter smile.

For the sake of the Ming Dynasty's country and its hundreds of millions of people, he had no choice but to submit a memorial to ban the School of Mind.

Unfortunately, these stubborn followers of the School of Mind only saw his side of betraying his teacher and ancestors, but ignored the changes that the cabinet brought to the Ming Dynasty under his control.

He Xinyin thought that the Prime Minister's concession was a sign of guilty conscience, so he became more aggressive and harsher, saying, "Zhang Juzheng, you have banned the study of the mind. This is a stain that you will never be able to erase. You have refused to worship Mr. Yangming. From now on, your mentors will never believe in you again, and your students will certainly follow your example. How can you still live in this world with dignity!"

Scolding and cursing.

He Xin lived in seclusion and looked down upon others. He spoke on behalf of Xu Jie and others to denounce Zhang Juzheng for betraying his teacher and ancestors.

The many students who cursed Zhang Juzheng will treat Zhang Juzheng and his new policies in the same way that Zhang Juzheng treats Xu Jie, Nie Bao, Yangming's School of Mind and the School of Mind today.

Zhang Juzheng looked at He Xinyin who was so close to him, and suddenly found that he could not see He Xinyin's face clearly. He was standing on the moral high ground, he was standing in the sunset.

Zhang Juzheng suddenly realized that there are some truths that you can never explain to people who live in the shackles of their own thoughts, let alone expect others to understand.

From the moment he submitted the memorial, Zhang Juzheng determined that one of the keys to saving the Ming Dynasty was to completely ban and deny Yangming's philosophy of mind.

He Xinyin's words and deeds made Zhang Juzheng more convinced that what he thought and did was correct. The followers of the School of Mind did not seem like a school that combined Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, but more like fanatical believers of various sects.

As a former disciple of the School of Mind, Zhang Juzheng was willing to forgive the man in front of him for his rashness and was willing to remind him one last time, saying, "He Xinyin, don't sit there and talk about things all day long. National affairs are done, not discussed. Before you have the ability to challenge the imperial edict, learn to be humble, especially Taizhou Wangxue!"

Wang Xue of Taizhou.

Among the Seven Schools of Yangming, it has the greatest reputation among the people, but the weakest influence in the government, and often needs help from people of other schools.

They enjoy power while devaluing it, and have no intention of fundamentally changing power. These people are nothing but a group of dreamers.

Although you work diligently, but you sow widely but reap little, and fail to recognize the reality, you will be hit by the iron fist.

Lies don't hurt, the truth is a sharp knife.

The failure of the "gathering and harmony" idea in the Liang clan also made He Xinyin truly realize the importance of power.

The more he studied, the more he understood the influence of power. But before he could seek a way to enter the official career, Zhang Juzheng banned the study of the mind, completely blocking He Xinyin's path to power.

Zhang Juzheng's words seemed to be accusing the Wang school disciples in Taizhou of being a bunch of idiots, who have been unable to find the key to the problem for so many years.

He Xinyin could no longer hold back, his body trembling, he barely saluted, brushed off his sleeves and left, saying: "Thank you for your advice, Prime Minister, bye!"

Zhang Juzheng watched He Xinyin and the students leave, and he realized the importance of thought and cognition. In ancient times, Qin Shihuang burned books and buried scholars alive. Today, he gradually came to understand that tyrant.

The argument in front of the prime minister's residence.

This alarmed people inside and outside the mansion, but Zhang Juzheng did not give those outside the mansion a chance to laugh at him and walked into the mansion.

In the hall.

Zhang Juzheng paced back and forth, anger boiling in his chest. He couldn't even eat dinner. With his family members all around him, Zhang Juzheng finally shouted in anger, "This is too much! Little He Xinyin actually dared to come to the gate of the prime minister's residence and ridicule me!"

However, Zhang Juzheng's younger brother, Zhang Juyi, disagreed and said, "Brother, this matter cannot be blamed on He Xinyin. It was your fault for refusing to worship Mr. Yangming and banning the School of Mind..."

"enough!"

Zhang Juzheng slammed his palm on the table and scolded: "What do you know about national affairs? How can you teach me a lesson?"

"That's what it is..."

Zhang Juyi wanted to argue, but was interrupted by Zhang Juzheng, who said, "What is it originally? Originally, it was to let the School of Mind bring about the demise of the Ming Dynasty. That is what the people of the School of Mind and Yangming School of Mind wanted?"

The anger between the brothers was rising, and Zhang Wenming, the old man sitting at the table, couldn't help it and said, "Shut up!"

The family finally sat together to have a meal, but it ended up in such a mess because of an outsider. Old Master Zhang asked his youngest son Zhang Juqian to support him as he left.

Zhang Juyi was so angry that he left as well.

In his opinion, his brother had no master-disciple relationship or support in his heart at all, and had forgotten all the help provided by the School of Mind and Yangming School of Mind. He was only concerned about his own official position and wealth, and was devoted to consolidating the imperial power for the old emperor.

Zhang Juzheng felt deeply distressed by the departure of his father and brothers. He slowly sat down with the help of the desk, holding his forehead in discomfort.

At this time, Mrs. Zhang, who heard the noise, hurried over. Seeing her eldest son's appearance, she stepped forward and patted him on the back, saying, "Don't argue with your brother. As the prime minister of a country, I understand that you are responsible for the lives of the people of the world. I know that the seven emotions of a prime minister are different from those of ordinary people. You have to hold on."

Looking at his elderly mother who was comforting him, Zhang Juzheng's eyes were filled with tears. No one knows a son better than his mother, and now only his old mother can understand his difficulties.

If you want to do extraordinary things, you must be an extraordinary person. The dual understanding of the emperor and his mother made Zhang Juzheng's heart gradually as solid as a rock, and he vowed to eliminate the evil in the officialdom.

……

Make a big fuss in the prime minister's residence.

But escaped unscathed.

He Xinyin immediately became a hero in the eyes of all Beijing students. Just as this "great sage" was boasting about the great spirit that scholars were blessed with, the door was suddenly pushed open.

A group of messengers in embroidered robes rushed into the venue, and the students from Beijing present were immediately terrified.

A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. The current Jinyiwei may not stop at night, but it is almost the same.

But He Xinyin was different from the students in Beijing. He stopped bragging and looked at the Jinyiwei and the imperial guards calmly. He had already expected that someone would come to settle accounts with him.

But He Xinyin was not worried about being killed at all, because after his death, he would become a moral role model admired by scholars. Scholars both during his lifetime and after his death would remember him as a man who died fighting for the School of Mind and Yangming's School of Mind.

On the other hand, Zhang Juzheng would be scolded to the point of breaking his spine and cracking his ancestral graves by scholars of his time and later generations.

Before the Jinyiwei could make a move, He Xinyin took the initiative to stand up, straightened his clothes, and said, "I've heard of the name of the Imperial Prison for a long time. I want to see what kind of mountains of swords and seas of fire there are. Let's go!"

As more and more scholars were killed, the Jinyiwei also worked out ways to deal with scholars. For example, the old and tough ones like this one had a mouth harder than a dead duck, and their hearts were even harder than their mouths.

However, the human body is no different from other things. At the signal of the leading Jinyiwei, two Ti cavalrymen holding water and fire sticks stepped forward and fell towards He Xinyin's knees.

There was a crisp sound of bone breaking, followed by severe pain, and the body below the knees fell to the ground as soft as noodles.

Seeing the veins on He Xinyin's forehead bulging and cold sweat oozing out, Jinyiwei Qianhu enjoyed the glares from the surrounding scholars and felt very comfortable. He said, "Take them all away!"

The Beijing students who were able to listen to He Xinyin's lectures here were not good people. According to the order of the commander-in-chief, they were all arrested and executed secretly.

It's a dark and windy night, perfect for killing people!

He Xinyin finally realized the cruelty of the current saint and his lackeys. They were not even going to give him the chance to leave his name in history books, and wanted him to disappear from the world quietly.

"save……"

The water and fire stick hit his mouth, and his mouth full of teeth mixed with blood was immediately spat out, and then his mouth was stuffed, losing all chances of making any sound.

The students from Beijing received the same treatment. Their teeth were broken, their mouths were gagged, and they were tied up and taken away.

Since then, the secret place where Taizhou Wang Xue held lectures in the capital has been deserted, and all traces have disappeared, as if it had never existed.

……

Ok Hee Palace.

Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief Lu Bing entered the palace to report.

But people often think of possible problems only after they have done something. Lu Bing hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, if He Xinyin disappears at this time, the dirty water will definitely be thrown on Zhang Gelao by people who follow the School of Mind and Yangming School of Mind."

"So what?" Zhu Houcong asked indifferently.

Lu Bing was stunned.

Yes.

No matter how much you throw mud at someone, without any evidence, there is no evidence.

History books are written by the victors, and this sentence is even more appropriate for Zhang Juzheng.

Everything about the School of Mind and Yangming's School of Mind had to be written by Zhang Juzheng, so couldn't Zhang Juzheng write whatever he wanted?
Perhaps there would still be some rumors in the world at that time, but when the School of Mind and Yangming School of Mind were discontinued and there were no disciples left, later generations' understanding of He Xinyin would be limited to a tiny page.

If Zhang Juzheng was more ruthless and delayed writing the biography a little longer, until before his death, he could even cleanly erase all traces of He Xinyin's existence.

Not to mention that it has never appeared in the capital, it has never appeared in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Lu Bing felt a chill in his heart. Many literati, especially those who followed the School of Mind and the Yangming School of Mind, were not afraid of death and would be happy to leave a mark in history books.

But power can make the death of a scholar meaningless and non-existent, and fundamentally erase everything a person has paid and worked for.

However, people are always willing to believe in "authority". Wouldn't future generations believe in a wise minister throughout the ages, but believe in a small novel rumor that has been forgotten for decades, hundreds of years, or even thousands of years?
Thousands of years later, Zhang Juzheng's name will still be mentioned frequently. The so-called persecuted "classmates" have probably disappeared in the long river of history, and are used by later generations as a means to attack the wise man.

Lu Bing's heart was in turmoil. After he calmed down his thoughts, he officially started to report today. The first thing he did was not about the country, but about the outside world. He said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the Jinyiwei discovered a huge silver mine in Izumo, a mountain road in the Japanese territory. The Japanese named the silver mine Iwami Silver Mine after the mountain. Although the Japanese have strict defenses against the Iwami Silver Mine and do not allow any outsiders to approach, according to the secret envoys panning for silver in the mountain mine river, it can be inferred that this is a huge silver mine.

According to the investigation of past case files, Jinyiwei found that since the 12th year of Jiajing, Japan has exported at least one million taels of silver to the Ming Dynasty every year to buy things from the Ming Dynasty. That silver is likely to come from the Iwami Silver Mine. "

The country in Wa is not a real "country" but a Ritsuryo country, also called Ritsuryo country, which was implemented from the Nara period until the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures in the early Meiji period.

The Naling State was equivalent to the prefectures or counties in the Ming Dynasty, and was sometimes referred to as "more than sixty states."

The area east of Kinki is called the East Country, and the area west of Kinki is called the West Country.

Generally speaking, Japan is divided into five provinces and seven regions, and Iwami Ginzan is a narrow mountain range in Izumo Province on the Sanyin Road.

To be precise, it should be called the Silver Mine Mountains.

Now, the entire Iwami Ginzang Mountains is controlled by a family called the "Mori clan".

The Mori clan is also considered a famous family with a long history in Japan.

The ancestors of the Mori clan can be traced back to Oe Hiromoto, who served Minamoto no Yoritomo and served as the administrative director at the time of the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.

After Guangyuan's death, the descendants of his fourth son, Mori Yoshimitsu, continued to thrive as the lord of Yoshida-sho in Aki Province.

It was not until the generation of Mori Motonari's elder brother Mori Okimoto that the family regained power. Mori Okimoto died at the age of 24, and Mori Okimoto's two-year-old son Yukimatsumaru became the head of the family with the support of his retainers.

But at that time, Maori Moto was already twenty years old, and what happened afterwards was commonplace. The lord was young and his ministers were suspicious, and he had an older uncle who was good at fighting.

In the second year of the Jiajing reign, the nine-year-old Yukimatsumaru died suddenly, and his uncle Mori Motonari became the unanimous successor to the family throne.

From then on, there were three most powerful families in the western part of Japan, namely the Ouchi clan, the Mori clan, and the Amago clan. They fought against each other, but they could never avoid an important place, the Iwami Silver Mine. Bloody battles broke out again and again among the three families over this silver mine, and they launched one bizarre plan after another. In the end, Mori Motonari took control of the Iwami Silver Mine and eventually dominated the western part of Japan and was invincible.

The Ouchi clan was completely defeated and forced to death. The head of the Amago clan, Amago Haruhisa, also died not long ago. His son Amago Yoshihisa inherited the position of head of the family, but at the age of twenty, facing a huge enemy, his hope of reviving the family is slim.

The unification of Japan, even if it was only half of the western part, was not what the Ming Dynasty wanted to see. In accordance with the previous cabinet order to make things difficult for the Japanese, the Jinyiwei disguised themselves as pirates from the Ming Dynasty, infiltrated the Amago clan, and helped Amago Yoshihisa repel Mori Motonari's attacks again and again.

The Iwami Ginzan was discovered accidentally during the war, but after seeing the Ming people, Mori Motonari may have sensed the danger and his attempts to strangle the Amago clan became more frequent.

Relying on the crossbows and muskets that the Jinyiwei took away from the Ming Dynasty, they gradually found it difficult to resist the attacks of Mori Motonari.

The Jinyiwei in Japan, while seizing power within the Amago clan and making Amago Yoshihisa a puppet, requested the Ming Dynasty to send people and weapons.

As for Iwami Ginzan, it is still unclear how much silver reserves there are, but in any case, it is very large.

When Zhu Houcong heard this term, his eyes lit up and he became interested. He said, "Ishimi Silver Mine? We must take it!"

(End of this chapter)