Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 256: Hai Rui fails the exam and pays tribute to the late emperor!

Hu Zongxian did not change the name of the mansion. It was clearly the Hu Mansion bestowed by the emperor, and the plaque still had the words "Yan Mansion".

Twenty years ago, the Yan Mansion was located in the prosperous area of ​​Di'anmen Street. Although a large forbidden area was marked in front of the gate, it was after all a place where carriages and horses converged. Not far away across the street were restaurants and teahouses. At this moment, many eyes in the distance were looking at the unusual situation in front of the gate in surprise.

Hu Zongxian caught up with Hai Rui and Yan Jing, who had just become sworn brothers, and invited them to a banquet.

The friendship of the past and the help today made Hai Rui unable to refuse, so he accepted the invitation and came here. What he never expected was that the Minister of Works Zhu Heng came uninvited and wanted to participate.

Hu Zongxian and Yan Jing could not refuse, and Hai Rui had a good impression of this capable and capable minister who wanted to build a 25,000-mile straight road for the Ming Dynasty, so he readily agreed.

The "Riyuexing" restaurant opposite is no longer as prosperous as it once was. Although it is not like the Liuxinju which has inscriptions by Yan Song and seals by Xu Jie and is blessed with endless blessings, it usually has only a few guests.

Ten taels of silver for a pot of good tea is a thing of the past. Now, ordering a table of food and wine cannot save the business. For a restaurant this big, the daily expenses just to keep it open are dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver.

The restaurant owner, surnamed Wang, starts losing money the moment he opens his eyes every day, but just like Liubiju, he cannot close the restaurant or sell it.

Today, we heard that Liuxinju was saved by a master. The shopkeeper surnamed Wang keenly noticed that the savior had arrived. Just when he was trying every means to invite the master, the master actually arrived at the door of the restaurant.

The shopkeeper surnamed Wang rubbed his eyes and stared intently, tears almost falling. Although only two hours had passed since Hai Rui wrote the inscription in Liuxinju, the portrait and facial features of Hai Rui had already spread throughout the capital.

God will never stop me!

These were the words that the shopkeeper surnamed Wang shouted in his heart. He almost flew to the presence of the cabinet ministers, ministers, and the chief censor, with his waist almost lowered to the ground. He invited Hu Zongxian, Hai Rui, Zhu Heng, and Yan Jing in and invited them to the private room.

The shopkeeper surnamed Wang wanted to serve personally, but was sent away by the minister Hu Zongxian for drinking and talking about business, so he could only go to the kitchen to watch over the dishes.

He had long forgotten what the old man had said about just a few side dishes and a pot of wine. No matter whether it was mountain beasts, cloud swallows, cattle, mutton on land, or seafood from the sea, as long as the restaurant had it, he would let the chef cook it.

The waiter, who used to be very arrogant, no longer had the arrogance of the past. After respectfully serving a pot of good tea and four plates of exquisite snacks, he immediately left.

Yan Jing and Zhu Heng are both elderly people who have lived in the capital for many years. Hu Zongxian also visited this place many times when his mentor Yan Song was in power. At that time, the waiters in the restaurant would dare to stay away from their guests, no matter if they were ministers, vice ministers, or governors-general, as long as they were not rewarded.

He is completely different from his current appearance.

Hu Zongxian poured tea for Hai Rui, Zhu Heng, and Yan Jing. The latter all stood up subconsciously and couldn't help but joked: "You three are also well-known "troublemakers" in the court, but you dare not even accept a bowl of tea from me?"

These three people.

This is really annoying for the cabinet.

Not to mention Hai Rui, as soon as he arrived in Beijing, he embarrassed and made Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng uncomfortable in the Government Affairs Hall.

Not only has the problem of high-ranking officials reducing their own salaries not been solved, but there will also be the trouble of returning the imperial palace and imperial gifts. I'm afraid that the ministers of the six ministries and nine departments and the local governors and governors will become alienated from the prime minister in the future.

Zhu Heng's Ministry of Works had a 25,000-mile straight road, which represented 250 million taels of silver in court expenditures. Deputy Prime Minister Gao Gong had always been stingy and had to review all the account books issued by the national treasury. Every time the Ministry of Works took out a sum of money from the national treasury, the Deputy Prime Minister would feel distressed. As a director in the Government Affairs Hall, he could hear the Deputy Prime Minister scolding the Ministry of Works and Zhu Heng several times, even dozens of times a day.

Yan Jing forced the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Three Judicial Departments to re-examine the prison cases of the Ming Dynasty over the past ten years, which was beyond the expectations of the cabinet.

Yan Jing did not fool around, but actually found out many unjust, false and wrong cases from the vast and heavy case files and the densely packed cold texts.

The three judicial departments' investigations, of course, started from the capital, at the feet of the emperor. This meant that the first group of people Yan Jing investigated involved many court officials.

Even if it has nothing to do with the powerful and noble ministers, it is the bad things done by their uncles, brothers, and servants.

Before Yan Jing settled the wrongful convictions, these people relied on the power of their relatives and masters to solve the problems if possible after the crimes were committed. If they couldn't solve the problems, they would solve the people who raised the problems. They would then bribe the presiding officials and cover up everything.

Is this method good?

Of course!
This has been done for thousands of years, and the problem is solved quickly and efficiently.

But there is a small flaw that cannot withstand scrutiny.

The faster a problem is solved, the less time will be spent thinking about it, and as a result, more "tails" will be left behind when the problem is solved.

In the past, officials protected each other and no one took things seriously, so many things were just swept under the rug.

But Yan Jing was serious about it, and one unjust, false and wrongful case after another was uncovered, and the real culprits behind the scenes surfaced one after another. Those who deserved to be killed were all caught and taken to the Xishi Pailou for execution, and those who deserved to be exiled were all exiled 3,000 miles to Lingnan, and no one was spared.

As a result, Yan Jing offended countless court officials. The cabinet received memorials impeaching Yan Jing every day, which was really annoying.

Hai Rui, Zhu Heng and Yan Jing can be regarded as the three major "problematic officials" in the court.

Hai Rui took the tea bowl and said, "Etiquette cannot be abolished!"

"You."

Hu Zongxian helplessly signaled to Zhu Heng and Yan Jing, "Sit down, sit down, don't follow his example."

Zhu and Yan then sat down.

After a few simple greetings, Yan Jing looked at Hai Rui and asked the question in his mind, "Brother, why didn't you get the title of Jinshi?"

Yan Jing's words were different from Zhang Juzheng's. There was no contempt or insult in what he said, it was just pure confusion.

The Ming Dynasty's imperial examination system for selecting officials followed the example of previous dynasties. Not only essays were tested, but also appearance. It was said that a ruler must have the appearance of an official, and without an official appearance, there would be no official authority.

Therefore, when selecting officials, there is an additional condition, which is actually a necessary condition, that is, the applicant must have a good appearance and all six palaces are complete.

For example, in terms of face shape, the best ones are the “国” face, the “甲” face, and the “申” face.

The second-rate ones also have “田”-shaped face or “由”-shaped face.

Once you put on the official hat, you will look like an official.

If the parents are unkind and give birth to a child with a "乃" (Nai) face, no matter how brilliant the essay is, the child will definitely fail the exam.

Hai Rui was a juren and had passed the jinshi examination, so his talent and ability did not need to be proven. Before Yan Jing met Hai Rui, he thought it was a problem of not having the appearance of an official.

But when the government officials saw Hai Rui, he was wearing a black hat and red clothes, with high brows, a straight nose and sunken eyes. He looked awe-inspiring just by standing in the hall.

Hai Rui wanted to be modest, saying that he was not well-educated enough to be admitted to a high position, but Hu Zongxian took over the conversation, pointed at Hai Rui and said with a smile: "This man is a great talent. During the imperial examination, he did not want to follow the rules of "breaking the topic and continuing the topic", and spoke frankly about state affairs. Ying Lei (Yan Jing's pen name), if you were the examiner, would you not reject his paper?"

Hear the words.

Zhu Heng and Yan Jing were both stunned, and then they couldn't help laughing.

It turned out that Hai Rui failed the "face reading" test.

Hai Rui blushed for a rare moment, and took the tea and said respectfully, "Drink tea! Drink tea! Let's not talk about the past! Let's not talk about it!"

Just then, the shopkeeper surnamed Wang and the waiter came up with wine and food and rescued Hai Rui.

The shopkeeper surnamed Wang apologized with a smile, "Your Excellency, the two ministers, and the Chief Justice, we haven't had guests for a long time, so the dishes are not complete. I just picked out a few of the chef's specialties and the freshest ones. I hope you can forgive me."

The waiter held the bottom of the plate with his fingers, and served the dishes to the table with a smile on his face. He pointed out one by one: "This is Rooster's Good News, Buddha's Hand Fragrance, Dinghu Vegetarian Pigeon Eggs, Longevity and Health, Oyster King Net Abalone Slices. They are made with four-headed dried abalone. I'm afraid it's hard to find them even if you run all over the capital now." Introducing the dishes, the waiter was proud again. The shopkeeper surnamed Wang looked at the gradually changing face of the cabinet minister, went up and slapped the waiter, and then introduced: "This is the black bean sauce lobster platter, peacock spread tail, unicorn bear paw, four hot dishes seaweed waistband, wedding crown promotion, jade breast golden cicada, dragon hidden tiger buckle.

In addition, here are the four types of ice flower and white fungus decoction, desserts, and blooming flowers and prosperity..."

The large table was almost full of space, so the shopkeeper surnamed Wang and the waiter cautiously retreated.

The atmosphere in the private room was no longer as lively as before. This table of food would cost at least several hundred taels of silver, which was obviously beyond the scope of Hai Rui and Yan Jing's banquet.

Zhu Heng looked at the two of them and said happily, "Great! I'm going to enjoy a feast today!"

Hu Zongxian nodded at Zhu Heng and said to Hai Rui and Yan Jing with a smile, "Ruxian (Hai Rui's pen name), Ying Lei, do you think I can't afford this meal?"

Yan Jing continued, jokingly saying, "Of course we can afford it. Everyone in Beijing knows that Mr. Hu has a million in his mansion and two business tycoons in his family."

For other people, the father earns money and then spends it, but Hu Zongxian is different. His son earns money and the father spends it.

The story of Hu Zongxian's eldest son Hu Guiqi and second son Hu Songqi, who worked together to defraud a dead Huizhou merchant of 300,000 gold, is still sung throughout the country and circulated in countless streets and alleys.

Putting aside the cost of "doing business", the Hu brothers earned more than two million taels of silver. After Hu Zongxian came to Beijing, he not only scolded his sons in the street, but also took the silver and spent it directly.

Excluding the one million taels of silver that Hu Zongxian had previously subsidized the family, there were still at least more than one million taels of silver in the Hu family's treasury. Even if they ate like this every day, every meal, they could still pay for the food and wine.

The four of them raised their cups and took a sip each. Hu Zongxian took a piece of the jade breast with a chopstick and said, "Please."

Zhu Heng immediately followed suit and took a bite, frowning with some worry, "It's very fat."

Yan Jing took a bite and said, "It tastes good! Brother, please."

Hai Rui had no desire for food, but he was also afraid that he would become a picky eater. However, since this was the case, he had no choice but to take a bite.

After all, they are all literati, and most of them only pick up a few bites of light food when they pick up their chopsticks.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the four of them started talking again.

Zhu Heng swallowed the shark fin in his mouth and asked with a smile: "What are you going to do next?"

With this incident at the Government Affairs Hall, Hai Rui completely offended the Prime Minister, as well as many other ministers. Not only did he have difficulty taking a single step in the court, but he also felt that things would not go smoothly for him.

Hai Rui ate a pigeon egg and said, "National policy is the most important thing."

This national policy.

What he meant was "widely opening community schools to enlighten the people." In the Ming Dynasty, community schools needed to be built on a large scale to enlighten the minds of tens of millions of children. Hai Rui did not intend to stay in the capital for a long time. He planned to travel to the two capitals and thirteen provinces to check out all the community schools to prevent shoddy work from happening.

Along the way, he explained the national policies to the people, so that after the community school was built, the people would actively send their children to school.

In addition, with community schools and students, good teachers are also essential. Hai Rui has already made preparations to seek out famous mountains, visit eminent friends, and spare no effort to invite those literati with both moral integrity and talent to teach the children knowledge.

As for the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, whether Hai Rui was present or not actually had little impact. The Ministry of Rites was responsible for rites and music, schools, religion, ethnicity and foreign affairs.

The Jiajing Dynasty began with the dispute over the great ceremony. Some old ministers were still alive, and with these people around, there would be no mistakes in the etiquette.

School, this is exactly what Hai Rui is doing.

There is no need to talk about religion. The great debate among Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism has just ended, and the court has reached a conclusion on this, so we can just act accordingly.

In terms of ethnicity, the Ming Dynasty was not like the Yuan Dynasty. There was no distinction between people. As long as life was good, no one would cause trouble.

As for diplomacy, a weak country has no diplomacy. The Ming Dynasty today is obviously not a weak country. As a powerful country in the world, diplomacy is the easiest thing to do. The officials of the Ministry of Rites know what to do without Hai Rui's teaching.

Zhu Heng and Yan Jing had great respect for Hai Rui, who was able to work hard for the people while serving as a minister. Hai Rui's merits were no less than those of Chen Yiqin, the minister who carried out the policy of surveying land and distributing land equally to the people.

Hu Zongxian was not so optimistic. He took out a stack of paper from his sleeve, unfolded a piece of paper, and a poem suddenly appeared in front of several people.

“People say winter nights are cold, I say winter nights are wonderful.

The embroidered quilt is as warm as spring, and there is no need to worry about the dawn. "

After reading it, Zhu Heng shook his head in disappointment and said, "I don't know who wrote it, but it's not a good work."

Hu Zongxian immediately unfolded the second piece of paper. It was another poem, also a six-character poem:
"The dew-soaked fireflies fly in the empty tower; the moon is dim and the cuckoo is silent.

Where is the red-dressed lady leaning against the railing, hearing the cold wind in the dark night? "

Yan Jing smiled and said, "This poem is not bad, but why do I feel uncomfortable when I read it?"

Hai Rui's face darkened and he said, "Not surprising, there is something spooky about this poem."

Hu Zongxian saw that Hai Rui had seen the charm of the poem, but still said nothing. He then opened the third piece of paper, which contained a seven-character quatrain:

"New green has just grown, and the remaining red has become sparse; the beauty's tears have stained her silk clothes.

The butterflies don’t care whether spring has returned or not, they just fly to the depths of the yellow flowers.”

Fourth sheet of paper, fourth poem:
"There are many green grasses in the wasteland and garden, and young people sing while outing.

After the people in the watchtower left, the returning wind blew the vines gently.

Zhu Heng couldn't help shaking his head and said, "Depressed!"

Hai Rui said, "The ghost energy is getting stronger and stronger."

Hu Zongxian opened the last piece of paper, which was also the fifth poem, and Yan Jingyin said:

"Orioles are singing everywhere during Qingming Festival, and the spring breeze does not blow on the ancient willow branches.

I should only remember that you once hung golden silk on the stone wall. "

Five poems finished.

Hai Rui, Zhu Heng and Yan Jing remained silent.

Hu Zongxian looked at Hai Rui and said, "These poems are all of a somber tone and sad sentiment, but they were not written by delicate women, but by the literati of our Ming Dynasty. In recent days, they have been seen and heard in the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

I feel sad about the decline of morals, I am terrified of the killing of the emperor, I recall the glorious past, and I cherish the memory of the late emperor!"

The last four words.

Hai, Zhu and Yan were shocked.

The living literati have started to make trouble again.

(End of this chapter)