I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 87 The Joy of Having a Son and the Strategy of Avoidance

Shen Yi Guan slowed down.

"Master Shen, these... these two people slandered my reputation and accused me of forming a clique. How could you... how could you not say a word about them? They are so vulgar. I beg you to expel them from the History Compilation Office!"

"What do you mean by 'Party Planting'? It's all just a rant, a slang. Let's leave it at that. From now on, please respect yourselves!"

Shen Shixing, who is good at smoothing things over, likes to make big things small and small things disappear when dealing with things.

"I refuse to accept this! Scholar Shen, if you don't punish them, I will... I will report this matter to the cabinet. Your bad habit of insulting your superiors and accusing others of forming a clique must not be tolerated! In the History Compilation Office, it's either them or me!"

Shen Yiquan said this because he felt that Zhao Yongxian and Liu Kezhen combined were not as important as himself.

In terms of compiling classics, he was indeed the best among all historians.

From this point of view alone, Shen Nian admires him, but it's a pity that he has too many thoughts.

At this time, Shen Nian stood up.

"Brother Ziwei, the revision of the law is a serious matter, so let's just let this little thing go!"

Shen Yi Guan looked at Shen Nian and said, "Zi Heng, are you planning to protect them?"

Hearing this, Shen Nian met Shen Yiquan's gaze.

"Why protect him? I'm prioritizing national affairs. All three of you bear responsibility for this matter. Besides, Editor Shen has been making a lot of friends at the History Bureau lately, and he certainly seems to be forming a clique. Isn't that right?"

Shen Nian was also dissatisfied with Shen Yi's way of manipulating social relationships in the History Museum.

"As expected of someone who walked out of the same house, you're accusing me of forming a clique? I, Shen Yi Guan, still consider you my friend. Let's go to the cabinet and have a debate!"

"I'll stick with you until the end!" Shen Nian said.

If Shen Nianruo doesn't stand up.

Based on the ability Shen Yikuan demonstrated in the History Compilation Institute and his status as a daily lecturer, if the cabinet elders saw that the conflict between the two sides could not be reconciled, they might really expel Zhao Yongxian and Liu Kezhen from the History Compilation Institute.

This is what Shen Nian doesn't want to see.

"Let's go!" Shen Yikuan said, waving his sleeves.

Shen Nian's eyes rolled, and he added, "Wait a minute! Before we leave, I want everyone to write down everything they just argued about, detailing every single sentence, and then sign and confirm it before we go to the cabinet to discuss it."

"I'd like to see what the elders would think of Shen Bianxiu, the daily lecturer, after seeing all these vulgar words."

Shen Nian deliberately emphasized the three words "Daily Lecturer".

Shen Shixing's eyes lit up, and he immediately sat up straight and said, "I just heard all those dirty words outside the door, and I also want to see whether it is shameful for three Hanlin officials to say such vulgar words."

Suddenly, Shen Yikuan became a little scared.

As a seventh-rank editor, the reason why he dared to be so arrogant was that, on the one hand, he believed that he was full of talent, and on the other hand, he had the identity of a daily lecturer.

Once these "dirty words" reached Zhang Juzheng's ears, he would definitely remove him from his position as daily lecturer to prevent the young Wanli from learning bad things.

Shen Yikuan thought about it and bowed slightly to Shen Shixing.

"Master Shen, this matter is not very glorious. Let it be so. I will take my leave!"

After saying that, Shen Yikuan glanced at Shen Nian, then strode away.

At this moment, he had already formed a grudge with Shen Nian, and was already thinking about how to pull Shen Nian down.

soon.

Shen Nian, Zhao Yongxian and the other five people also bowed to Shen Shixing, and then retreated.

Shen Shixing curled his lips slightly and muttered, "Shen Yiguan is talented enough to help the times, but his virtue is not enough to convince the people. He is not fit for important tasks! Not fit for important tasks!"

After a while.

Outside the room where the historical compilation was being reviewed, Wu Guo, the urging official and the secretary of the Central Secretariat, looked inside and muttered, "Is this the end? This shouldn't be the case!"

……

July 9th, afternoon.

The sky is covered with leaden clouds, the air is gloomy, and a heavy rain is about to come.

And this moment.

In the front hall of the Shen residence, Shen Nian paced back and forth with an anxious look on his face.

Shen's mother, Xiaotao, Liu's mother, and two midwives were all in the bedroom.

Gu Yue'er is about to give birth!

At the same time, a young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department was on standby in the front yard. Once the gender and date of birth were confirmed, he would immediately go to the Forbidden City to report.

At this moment, Shen Nian felt that the days passed by were like years.

"Boom!"

Suddenly there was a loud thunder in the sky, and then heavy rain poured down, getting heavier and heavier.

Not long after.

Gu Yue'er's screams of pain and a series of hurried footsteps were heard from the bedroom.

Shen Nian was very anxious, but he could not help at all.

About half an hour later.

The heavy rain gradually stopped and the sun shone through the clouds, becoming dazzling again.

Shen Nian became more and more anxious, and suddenly heard a clear and loud cry coming from inside the house.

"Wow!"

Shen Nian was overjoyed and immediately ran into the bedroom.

"It's born! It's born! Congratulations, Mr. Shen, congratulations, Mr. Shen, on having a son!" The midwife said excitedly while holding the child.

Shen Nian did not take the child immediately, but came to Gu Yue'er.

Although Gu Yue'er's face was pale at this moment, she had a very proud smile on her face.

Although Shen Nian told her more than once that he would love her equally whether it was a boy or a girl.

But Gu Yue'er still hoped that her first child would be a son.

After all, Shen Nian was a Jinshi, and she was the daughter of a businessman. If she couldn't give birth to a boy, she would feel sorry for the Shen family.

"Yue'er, thank you for your hard work!" Shen Nian put his hand on Gu Yue'er's forehead and tidied up the messy hair at her temples.

At this moment, Shen's mother was holding her eldest grandson, her face almost blooming with joy.

Subsequently.

Shen Nian carefully took his son and murmured, "Don't worry, son. If His Majesty chooses an unpleasant name, I will definitely refuse it."

The name of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty was chosen by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang himself in order to avoid repetition, which was difficult to pronounce and sound unpleasant.

Shen Nian was afraid that little Wanli would give his son an uncommon name, which would be difficult to write and even more difficult to pronounce.

After a while.

Aji wrote down his birth date and gave it to the young eunuch.

According to the royal naming process, it would take at least five days for the young Wanli to decide on a name for Shen Nian's son.

……

On the tenth day of July, Shen Nian began to go to the yamen as usual.

Now that he has a son, he is full of energy.

Next, he only hoped that his son could enjoy the blessings he created, rather than suffer because of him in the future.

……

July 13th, early morning.

Regular meetings.

Shen Nian was the record-keeper and stood southeast of the imperial throne.

This year's regular court sessions have become increasingly important, and many issues are resolved at the regular court sessions.

This relieved a lot of pressure on the cabinet, and the young Wanli also began to slowly express his own ideas and opinions.

After Zhang Juzheng summarized some major events that had occurred in the past three days, the Ministry of Public Security began to read some memorials.

All the memorials carried the cabinet's draft, and some had even been approved by the young Emperor Wanli.

Read out.

This is to make all officials aware of it and to allow those who have objections to raise them in a timely manner.

Just as the reading was about to end.

A memorial about the compilation of the "Da Ming Hui Dian" attracted the attention of officials.

Wu Guo, the official who urged the compilation of the book and the secretary of the Central Secretariat, submitted a memorial stating that:

"Hanlin Academy editor Zhao Zhigao, Hanlin Academy editor Shen Yiguan, and Hanlin Academy editor Shen Nian were suspected of forming cliques within the History Compilation Office. When compiling the classics and allowing for dissenting opinions, the reviewers often followed Shen Nian's orders, the editors often followed Shen Yiguan's orders, and the editors often followed Zhao Zhigao's orders. When it came to supplementing omissions and collecting missing information, they often acted on their own, hindering fairness."

"In addition, Zhao Zhigao, Shen Yikuan, and Shen Nian are all from Zhejiang and share a bond of fellow townsmanship. I hope the court will dispel any suspicion of clique-building and ensure that the revision of the code is fair and impartial."

After hearing the contents of this memorial, Shen Nian realized that he, Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yikuan were actually from the same hometown.

Zhao Zhigao was from Lanxi County, Zhejiang Province, Shen Yikuan was from Yin County, Zhejiang Province, and Shen Nian was from Qiantang County, Zhejiang Province.

Shen Nian didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The so-called "review and obey Shen Nian more" is because Shen Nian is right.

As for "the editors mostly obeyed Shen Yikuan and the editors mostly obeyed Zhao Zhigao", Shen Nian also believed that it was due to the outstanding abilities of Shen Yikuan and Zhao Zhigao.

He was in the History Museum and saw it most clearly.

He believed that the three cabinet ministers and five vice presidents would not believe this statement.

However, what made Shen Nian wary was his fellow-townsman friendship with Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yiquan.

Although Shen Nian and Zhao Zhigao were just acquaintances, he even had a feud with Shen Yikuan.

However, the Ming Dynasty had a policy called avoidance.

There are three types of avoidance: kinship avoidance, in-law avoidance, teacher-student avoidance, and native place avoidance (mostly referring to northerners serving as officials in the south, and southerners serving as officials in the north), etc.

Shen Nian, Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yikuan are the main forces in revising the classics.

If the three of them really become powerful because of their hometown ties and cannot supervise each other, then when they revise the classics, if they cover up for each other in order to save effort, it will affect the fairness of the history revision and make the president and the five vice presidents even busier.

To prevent such hidden dangers from occurring, at least one of the three people must leave.

Just as Shen Nian imagined.

The cabinet's draft reply read: "After investigation, among the editors, Shen Nian, Zhao Zhigao, and Shen Yiguan appear to be leading figures, but they are not likely to form a clique. However, as they are from the same hometown, there is a concern that they may form a clique in the future. Therefore, one of them is proposed to be removed from the History Compilation Office."

Little Wanli looked down with an embarrassed expression.

The cabinet did not specify who would be in charge of the History Compilation Office, and it was obvious that they wanted him to make the decision.

However, young Wanli was also very conflicted.

Shen Nian and Shen Yi Guan were both daily lecturers, and he was well aware of their abilities.

Zhao Zhigao won the third place in the imperial examination at the age of 45. He was well versed in the current dynasty's systems and was even better at historical affairs. His ability was even better than Shen Nian and Shen Yikuan.

Little Wanli thought for a moment and said, "These three are all talented in revising the classics. I can't make a decision at the moment..."

After saying that, little Wanli hesitated.

This hesitation was very meaningful, as the young Wanli wanted these three people to step forward on their own initiative.

This also gives face to the three of them.

Rushing to withdraw shows one's noble character.

Immediately, all the officials looked towards Shen Nian, Zhao Zhigao, and Shen Yikuan.

An embarrassing thing happened!

Shen Nian looked straight ahead with a calm expression, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.

Shen Yikuan stood very straight with his chest puffed out, showing no intention of standing out.

Zhao Zhigao also had a blank expression on his face, and had no intention of sharing the emperor's worries.

The three of them did not stand up because revising the classics was a very good job. After three years of revising, one might be able to serve as a reader or lecturer, which was much faster than normal promotion.

It is a fool's act to withdraw voluntarily as a tactic to avoid the problem.

Shen Nian did not stand up simply because he felt that Shen Yikuan should withdraw. He did not want Shen Yikuan to bully the reviewers in various ways after he left.

(End of this chapter)