I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 96: "Prepare for a Rainy Day" Zhang Siwei, Sharp Eyes Shen Ziheng
It's almost dusk.

In a private room of a teahouse next to Yuhe Bridge, on the southeast side of Hanlin Academy.

Shen Nian and Tang Xianzu sat opposite each other.

Tang Xianzu took out a stack of folk tabloids from his arms and placed them on the table.

Shen Nian looked down.

I found that it was all about students and candidates having a lavish drinking party in Zhang Garden on Mid-Autumn Night.

Tang Xianzu said, "Editor Shen, the news of the Zhang Garden banquet spread throughout the capital overnight. I've noticed that these tabloids deliberately highlighted two points."

"First, it deliberately included content about a gathering of scholars and merchants, recognizing their hometown ties, discussing marriages, and forming alliances with each other."

"Secondly, all of them point to Lü Xingzhou, the eldest son of Lü Cifu, as the organizer of the Zhang Garden banquet. They claim that he relied on his father's authority to summon singing girls from the Jiaofangsi (Chinese Music Bureau) from Yanle Hutong."

"These two points are deliberately highlighted. The former is strange, and the latter is questionable."

Tang Xianzu and Shen Nian were of the same age, but the former was a juren, while the latter was a Hanlin official and a daily lecturer. In addition, Tang Xianzu was still studying, so he called himself a student in front of Shen Nian.

Shen Nian picked up the tabloid and flipped through it carefully, and found that most tabloids really deliberately pointed out these two points.

Shen Nian could understand the first point of weirdness.

The target audience of the tabloids are the people of Beijing.

What the common people like to see is the luxury of the banquet, such as how many dishes and snacks there are, how much fragrant tea and fine wine there are, and how many beautiful singing girls there are, rather than the interaction between students and merchants.

Emphasizing the latter is likely to offend people.

The tabloid workshops in the capital are focused on making money, so it is impossible for them to focus on criticizing collusion between officials and businessmen.

Even if I criticize, I won't be so blunt.

"I can understand the first point being strange, but you doubted the second point. What's your reason? Were you also in Zhang Garden on Mid-Autumn Night?" Shen Nian asked.

“How could students go to a place like that!”

Tang Xianzu straightened up and continued, "On the evening of August 12th, around 12:00 p.m., I was drinking tea at the Qingchafang near Gulou Street when I suddenly overheard a conversation between two people behind a screen next door. One said, 'The eldest son of the Lu family loves classical music, so you can use this as an excuse to bring him to Zhang Garden.' The other said, 'Master Wei (Lü Xingzhou's courtesy name is Weishi) doesn't like occasions like this and probably won't come.' The other added, 'As long as you bring him to Zhang Garden, next year...' The other person deliberately lowered his voice for the rest of the conversation, so I couldn't understand it!"

"At the time, I didn't think much of it. I just thought it was a gathering of scholars, and they wanted to invite the eldest son of the Lu family to show off. But after reading the tabloids today, I realized this might be a trap. If what I heard is true, then the eldest son of the Lu family, Lu Xingzhou, couldn't have been the organizer of the Zhang Garden banquet, and he certainly wouldn't have summoned singing girls from the Jiaofang Bureau to entertain at his private banquet."

After hearing this, Shen Nian took a breath.

This matter may not be directed at Lu Xingzhou, but at Lu Diaoyang.

If Lü Xingzhou's crime of using his father's power to summon singing girls from the Jiaofangsi is proven, even if Lü Diaoyang does not resign voluntarily, a group of censors will impeach him and force him to resign.

In this dynasty, the requirement for officials has always been that morality is above all else.

"Can you see the faces of the two people talking behind the screen?" Shen Nian asked.

"I haven't seen it." Tang Xianzu shook his head, then took out a piece of paper and said, "This is everything I heard. I have signed and confirmed it. I am responsible for what I said today."

Shen Nian looked at Tang Xianzu.

"This matter concerns the innocence of the eldest son of the current Vice Prime Minister. Why didn't you report this to the Ministry of Justice or the Imperial Guards, or even report directly to Lord Lu's residence, but instead came to me, a Hanlin official?"

Tang Xianzu had the status of a juren, and was qualified to go to the Ministry of Justice or the Embroidered Uniform Guard to report the case.

Tang Xianzu smiled helplessly.

"Early next year, I will be taking the Spring Examination. Going to Lü Cifu's residence now would appear to be trying to curry favor with a high-ranking official, and I don't want people to gossip about me. As for the Ministry of Justice or the Imperial Guard, I don't trust them, and they probably won't believe what I say."

"Do you trust me?" Shen Nian asked back.

Apart from meeting Tang Xianzu a few times, he had no other interactions with him.

Tang Xianzu said, "I believe that an official who can persuade the court to implement the policy of a hundred schools of thought must have a kind heart and must be concerned about the people of the world."

Shen Nian's face turned red.

"Leave this matter to me. I will definitely pass this information to the most suitable person."

"Farewell, students!"

Tang Xianzu stood up, bowed to Shen Nian, and then left quickly.

……

After a while.

Shen Nian got on the carriage and headed home.

He thought seriously about who wanted Lu Diaoyang to retire and who wanted to turn this matter into a scandal of collusion between officials and businessmen and abuse of power for personal gain.

……

The next day, around noon, during a break in the lecture.

Young Wanli began to review memorials.

Feng Bao stood on the left and wrote in red, while Shen Nian stood on the right and recorded daily life.

immediately.

Two cabinet ministers, Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei, walked in along with the Minister of Rites Ma Ziqiang, the Vice Minister of Punishments Wang Zongmu, and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Pacification Commissioner of the Northern Pacification Office Cao Wei.

Followed by.

Wang Zongmu, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, began to report to the young Wanli about the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet for students and candidates.

"Your Majesty, after a thorough investigation, the report by Li Dai, the Chief Censor of the Ministry of Rites, is entirely true. A total of fifty people attended the Zhang Garden banquet on Mid-Autumn Night. They included twenty-eight students participating in the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination, nine with the title of Juren, and thirteen businessmen."

"The organizers of this banquet are Li Wenlai, a silk merchant from the capital, and Feng Yong, a student. Li Wenlai paid to rent Zhang Garden and was responsible for organizing the merchants; Feng Yong was responsible for inviting the candidates and students."

"They explained that they were acting on the instructions of Lü Xingzhou, the eldest son of Lü Cifu. The latter's purpose in hosting this banquet was to make friends with like-minded people before entering officialdom."

"The merchants and students who attended the banquet were also attracted by Lü Xingzhou, the eldest son of Lü Cifu. Li Wenlai bribed Xu Sanniang, the Left Music Director of the Jiaofang Bureau, with five hundred taels of silver, claiming it was... the intention of Lü Xingzhou, the eldest son of Lü Cifu. Then, Xu Sanniang dispatched thirty singing girls to Zhang Garden, returning to Yanle Hutong at five o'clock in the morning."

"I interrogated a number of officials and candidates, and they all claimed they had no idea the singing girl who accompanied them was a prostitute from the Jiaofangsi. Many had seen Lü Xingzhou at Zhang Garden, but most claimed they had no idea he was Lü Cifu's son."

"However, according to Lü Xingzhou's account, he came to Zhang Garden after hearing about the qin music they were performing, such as 'Plum Blossom Dance,' 'General's Order,' and 'Fisherman and Woodcutter'. He wasn't the organizer behind the scenes. After seeing the garden filled with singing girls and the beautiful music, he left after less than half an hour, claiming he had no knowledge of the singing girls at the Jiaofang Bureau. This was also his first meeting with silk merchant Li Wenlai and student Feng Yong..."

"The person who spread this story was a student named Sun Xian. He said he was just showing off to his friends, but he didn't expect the story to spread accidentally and cause a huge uproar among the people."

……

Wang Zongmu paused for a moment, then continued, "I infer that one of the silk merchant Li Wenlai, the student Feng Yong, and Lü Xingzhou must have lied."

"I speculate that there are probably two possibilities for this matter."

"First, the conspiracy was orchestrated by silk merchant Li Wenlai and student Feng Yong. They used the name of Lü Xingzhou, the eldest son of the Vice Minister, to deceive a group of merchants, students, and candidates, as well as Xu Sanniang, the Left Music Director of the Imperial Music Bureau. Their goal was to use the banquet to find backers, befriend merchants, and seek personal gain. However, they didn't expect the news to spread the next day. Fearing offending Lü, the students and candidates claimed ignorance. To mitigate their guilt, silk merchant Li Wenlai and student Feng Yong pinned the blame of the conspiracy on Lü Xingzhou."

"Secondly, this incident was masterminded by Lü Xingzhou, whose goal was to make friends with like-minded individuals before entering officialdom. After the incident, Lü Xingzhou claimed that he had been tricked into Zhang Garden and placed all the blame on the silk merchant Li Wenlai and the student Feng Yong."

After saying that, Wang Zongmu stepped aside.

Little Wanli curled his lips slightly and said, "After a night of investigation, you've only found two possibilities for me? You want me to investigate for you?"

"Pfft!"

Wang Zongmu quickly knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I know that Your Majesty is concerned about this matter, so I have come to report on the progress. This case is still under investigation, and there are some points that Your Majesty needs to clarify."

"Need me to explain?"

Just when little Wanli was confused, Zhang Siwei stood up.

"Your Majesty, I think the first possibility is more likely. I have met Elder Lu's eldest son, and he is definitely not a man of luxury and lust. He must have been taken advantage of!"

Upon hearing this, the young Wanli was stunned for a moment, then instantly understood. Shen Nian and Feng Bao also understood the meaning of this.

According to Wang Zongmu's account, any discerning person would think that the second possibility is more likely.

It would be extremely difficult for a businessman or a student to deceive all the students, candidates, and the Zuo Si Le of the Jiaofangsi by pretending to be the eldest son of the second assistant minister.

All are not fools.

It is impossible to attend a banquet without even conducting any investigation just because you heard the sentence "Lu Xingzhou, the eldest son of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet, has organized a banquet, are you coming?"

Especially Xu Sanniang, the left music director of the Jiaofangsi.

As a musician of the Jiaofangsi, she was well aware of the serious crime of allowing court entertainers to perform at private banquets, which was punishable by exile.

It wasn't worth it for her to take the risk for five hundred taels of silver.

And it was impossible for her to believe that the organizer of the banquet was Lu Xingzhou just by listening to what the other party said.

Zhang Siwei claimed that "the first possibility is more likely", not because he could not think of it, but because he was making excuses for Lu Diaoyang.

If the case is further investigated and it is confirmed that Lu Xingzhou relied on his father's power to order the official entertainers to perform at private banquets, Lu Diaoyang will definitely be severely punished.

This kind of lax parenting was enough to force Lu Diaoyang to retire and even ruin his reputation in his later years.

The young Wanli, who had come to understand, thought for a moment, then looked at Zhang Juzheng and said, "Prime Minister, how do you think we should investigate this matter?"

Shen Nian frowned.

He guessed that Zhang Juzheng would definitely say that the overall situation should be given priority.

Because the current cabinet cannot do without Lu Diaoyang.

Although the six ministers can be selected to fill the cabinet, the vacancies still need to be filled by new people, which may affect the new policies.

Since the Zhengde Dynasty, the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty would not be easily replaced.

Zhang Juzheng strode out, bowed, and said, "I believe that the overall situation should be given priority."

When it comes to state affairs, Zhang Juzheng has always been a man who knows how to adapt.

As long as it was for the sake of the new policy, he could turn a blind eye to many things that violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, Shen Nian frowned.

If he took out the evidence written by Tang Xianzu at this moment, it would probably be of no use. This evidence was too weak to prove Lu Xingzhou's innocence.

Once it is discovered that there is something wrong with Lu Xingzhou, the cabinet will be missing a pillar.

In addition, Lu Diaoyang wanted to resign, and neither the young Wanli nor Zhang Juzheng wanted this situation to happen.

Little Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Yes, we should put the overall situation first."

Hearing this, Li Zongmu immediately bowed and said, "I know what to do!"

If Wang Zongmu wanted to exonerate Lu Xingzhou, there were many ways for him to do so.

For example: it can be said that the official courtesans in Zhang Garden were actually singing girls who had just been released from the Jiaofangsi register and had nothing to do with the Jiaofangsi; then it can be said that the matter was a joint plan by the silk merchant Li Wenlai and the student Feng Yong to make a big deal out of it, and finally all the scholars, students, and merchants who participated were scolded, and the matter was over.

Just when everyone thought the matter was about to come to an end, Ma Ziqiang, the Minister of Rites and Hanlin Academician, stood up.

"Your Majesty, I believe this case should not be handled this way. Elder Lu has always been honest and upright, and his son Lu Xingzhou has no bad reputation. It is impossible for him to engage in such extravagance. If we try to evade this matter and minimize the seriousness of the matter, we will only confirm the accusation that Lu Xingzhou relied on his father's authority to invite court entertainers to a private banquet."

"This will only tarnish Elder Lu's reputation. I suggest we investigate thoroughly and clear their name!"

Hear this.

Zhang Siwei spoke first, "Ma Shangshu, there are no outsiders here, so I will speak frankly!"

"I also believe in Lord Lu and his son, but what if it's really revealed that Lü Xingzhou was the mastermind? Even if someone else summoned the courtiers in his name, the censors will surely impeach him, and Lord Lu will still resign. If Lord Lu retires, what will happen to the cabinet? What will happen to the court? What's more important? You should consider this carefully!"

"There is no need to weigh the pros and cons. National law is above everything else and everyone must be treated equally!" said Ma Ziqiang.

Ma Ziqiang and Zhang Siwei are in-laws, but their personal relationship is average. They have many differences in political affairs and are always arguing and quarreling.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng did not speak.

He didn't say anything, but actually he tacitly agreed with Zhang Siwei's words.

At this time.

When Shen Nian saw Ma Ziqiang standing at the front, he quickly stepped out.

"Your Majesty, I agree with Scholar Ma. Given Elder Lu's temperament, if he knew that Your Majesty was deliberately favoring his son in order to keep him in office, I'm afraid... I'm afraid he wouldn't consider it a royal favor, but would instead regard it as a stain on his career. If his integrity was ruined by this, Elder Lu might not only retire, but might... he might become extremely depressed!"

When he heard the words "can't get over it", Zhang Juzheng stopped stroking his beard.

If the case is really investigated in reverse with the result of "putting the overall situation first", Lu Diaoyang might really be upset after knowing it.

"Shen Nian, stop talking nonsense. Elder Lu is not as fragile as you think!"

"For the sake of the cabinet and the government, we must put the overall situation first. In the current capital, there are many officials and businessmen who have to entertain guests, and it has become a common practice to bring prostitutes to banquets. If we severely punish such situations, then should we control other extravagant banquets on the streets of the people? Should we severely punish them? The court does not have that much energy!" Zhang Siwei said loudly.

Hearing this, Shen Nian was obviously stunned.

He suddenly realized that Zhang Siwei was quite active today.

During daily political discussions with the emperor and Zhang Juzheng, the phrase he said most often was: I second the motion.

Moreover, Lu Diaoyang's retirement will actually improve his status.

In Shen Nian's mind, Zhang Siwei was not the kind of official who was selfless and wholeheartedly devoted to the court.

this moment.

A bold idea popped up in Shen Nian's mind: Is it possible that Zhang Siwei is the mastermind behind this incident?
Zhang Siwei planned this matter.

It was not to force Lu Diaoyang to retire, but to make the young Wanli and Zhang Juzheng say the five words that made an exception: put the overall situation first!

He was certain.

Lu Diaoyang's son is suspected of colluding with businessmen and abusing public power. Zhang Juzheng will put the overall situation first and make the matter smaller to prevent Lu Diaoyang from retiring.

This precedent was set.

When Hai Rui investigates the collusion between officials and businessmen in Shanxi and finds him in the future, Zhang Juzheng should also put the overall situation first and show leniency to him.

Otherwise he could just bring up the old matter again.

He planned this situation and actively kept Lu Diaoyang in the cabinet in order to preserve his position as a cabinet minister in the future.

Zhang Siwei expected Zhang Juzheng to say "put the overall situation first", but he did not expect Ma Ziqiang to be so serious.

Suddenly, Shen Nian felt that things were going smoothly.

According to Zhang Siwei's power, he could easily order people to mobilize the Jiaofangsi, and he could get hold of a businessman or a student, making them willing to work for him even at the cost of exile...

There is also the student who persuaded Lu Xingzhou to go to Zhang Garden. It is very likely that Zhang Siwei had someone promise him that he would be on the list of the imperial examination next spring, so he dared to deceive Lu Xingzhou in this way.

Shen Nian slowed down and took out Tang Xianzu's note from his arms.

He couldn't let Zhang Siwei's trick succeed.

After failing to let Hai Rui find a pile of evidence, the young Wanli and Zhang Juzheng said lightly: "Put the overall situation first" for the sake of the new policy and Zhang Siwei's political ability in the cabinet.

Some things, once they start off badly, will continue to get worse and there will be no turning back.

(End of this chapter)