My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 38 Xu Wenchang

Su Ze put down the portable court. The U-Tsang region had a weak presence in the Ming Dynasty and indeed failed to increase the country's fortune.

However, the golden urn method can ensure the stability of U-Tsang, which is already quite good.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty controlled U-Tsang and made it an inseparable part of China's territory, which is also a great achievement for generations to come!
The Ming Dynasty, which seems to be thriving now, has more and more internal problems. It is good enough that U-Tsang does not cause more trouble. It is too difficult for it to boost the Ming Dynasty.

But when he saw that the censor was scolded because of him, Su Ze's mood improved again. He even felt that the 30 points of prestige that were deducted were worth it.

But what is this prestige value? Is it just the reputation among the censors?
No, that’s not what it means. It should be said that the censors controlled the direction of public opinion in the Ming Dynasty and influenced the attitudes of the court and the public, so their prestige was reduced.

Of course, Su Ze doesn't want to cater to these upright people, so is there any other way to increase his prestige?
If you can control the direction of public opinion, then you can also manipulate your prestige, right?

Su Ze kept this idea in mind and decided to try it out when he had the chance.
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In the blink of an eye, it is July 10th again, and it is time to take a day off in the first half of the month.

There are only ten days left before the ceremony of enthroning the crown prince. The officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department are all very busy, but Su Ze spends his days reading and practicing calligraphy, free and easy.

The new Dharma King has been drawn through the golden urn method. The golden urn made by the Ministry of Rites was enshrined in the main hall of the Daming Royal Buddhist Temple, Dalungshan Huguo Temple, under the witness of the two factions. Han and Tibetan monks chanted sutras for seven days and finally drew the new Dharma King.

The new Dharma King was the reincarnation found by Drepung Monastery. Although Ganden Monastery was somewhat unwilling to accept it, it still accepted the result.

In the future, the reincarnation of the Dharma King will be selected from the two monasteries. It is still unknown whether the reincarnated child in Tibet can survive to adulthood. There is still a long way to go.

Anyway, this was the only thing Zhao Zhenji assigned to him, and Su Ze was not stupid enough to take the task on his own initiative.

The censors from the six departments and thirteen regions were reprimanded by envoys sent by the emperor. This time, the censors knew that they were in the wrong and, unusually, accepted the reprimand obediently.

The Ministry of Justice was quiet for a while, which relieved some of the constraints on the enthronement ceremony. By July 10th, preparations were basically completed.

Minister of Rites Zhao Zhenji gave everyone in the Ministry of Rites a holiday. Shen Yikuan, who had been busy for more than half a month, finally got a precious day off.

Shen Yikuan, who was resting, did not go home for vacation, but instead stayed next to Su Ze.

"Brother Jianwu, if there's anything wrong between you and me, just tell us directly. Why are you acting like this?"

Su Ze saw that Shen Yi Guan had something to say but couldn't open his mouth. He also became curious about what was going on that made even the nosy Shen Yi Guan unable to speak.

Su Ze was amazed by Shen Yi's communication skills.

Soon after being transferred to the Zhanshi Mansion, he found out all the details about the officials in the Mansion and could talk to everyone enthusiastically.

Not only the Zhanshi Mansion, Shen Yiquan's network of relationships has extended to the Ministry of Rites, the Hanlin Academy, and he even has sources of information in the Ministry of Rites.

Shen Yi Guan closed the door of the public housing and then said:
"Brother Zilin, I didn't want to bring this up, but this is a request from our elders. If you don't want to, just refuse."

elder?

In the capital, Shen Yikuan’s elder is his immediate superior Zhu Dashou?
Shen Yiguan nodded and said, "That's what you gentlemen asked me to say."

Su Ze became interested. Seeing Shen Yikuan hesitating, he knew that it must be a difficult matter. What could Zhu Dashou ask of him?
Shen Yi Guan took a breath and said:

"I heard that Brother Zilin is looking for a consultant. I have a candidate here. He is from Shaoxing, Zhejiang."

Mu Ke, Mu Bin, or legal advisor, is a well-known legal advisor in Shaoxing. Is it necessary to be so hesitant when introducing a Mu Ke to yourself?
Shen Yiguan gritted his teeth and said:
"This man is called Xu Wei, and he's from Shaoxing."

When Su Ze heard the name, he immediately stood up and asked, "Xu Wei, Xu Wenchang? Is that the Xu Wenchang who followed Hu Butang to fight against the Japanese invaders?"

Hearing that Su Ze had heard of Xu Wei's name, Shen Yi Guan relaxed a little and said:
"It's this Xu Wenchang."

"Xu Wenchang was a good friend of my uncle's. He was one of the Ten Masters of Yuezhong and was also close to the other scholars."

Su Ze took Shen Yi Guan in turn and said:
"Take me to see this Xu Wenchang!"

Shen Yikuan was shocked by Su Ze's enthusiasm. Xu Wei did have some reputation, but that was his reputation during the anti-Japanese war in Zhejiang.

Su Ze is not from Zhejiang, so why would he react so strongly to Xu Wei?

Shen Yiguan didn't want to cheat his friend, so he pulled Su Ze to sit down and said:

"Brother Zilin, since you know that Xu Wenchang was once Hu Butang's advisor, you should also be aware of his current situation."

Su Ze nodded.

Hu Zongxian, the hero who fought against the Japanese invaders, once served as the Minister of War, so the people of Zhejiang respectfully called him Hu Butang.

Although Hu Zongxian made great contributions in the fight against Japanese pirates in the southeast, he was a member of Yan Song's party. After Yan Song's downfall, Hu Zongxian's position became awkward.

In the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, Xu Jie replaced Yan Song as the chief minister of the cabinet. His student, Lu Fengyi, impeached Hu Zongxian for ten crimes.

This time, Emperor Jiajing wrote in his own hand "Zongxian is not a member of Song's party" and released Hu Zongxian.

But two years later, in the 43rd year of Jiajing, the Qingliu again impeached Hu Zongxian and Yan Song's son Yan Shifan for forming a clique. This time Hu Zongxian was arrested and imprisoned. The anti-Japanese hero left a poem in prison, "The sword is buried in the unjust imprisonment, and the loyal soul is surrounded by white clouds", and committed suicide in prison.

As soon as Hu Zongxian died, his former subordinates were immediately purged. Xu Wei was Hu Zongxian's aide, so he naturally could not escape the responsibility and was arrested and interrogated several times.

Shen Yiguan said:
"With the help of the scholars, Xu Wenchang entered the capital and served as an advisor to Lord Li for two years, thus escaping the reckoning."

"But Lord Li is extremely strict in his management of his subordinates, and Xu Wenchang is a carefree and unrestrained person, leading a very miserable life. Therefore, he approached the scholars to request a dismissal."

"But if he left the capital and returned home, he would probably be murdered by local officials again, so the scholars persuaded him to stay in the capital."

Su Ze nodded. This is how political struggle works. Once the struggle begins, the scope and intensity of the struggle are no longer controllable by those in power.

You want to make progress, and so do I. Liquidating the old party is the best way to make progress.

Xu Jie, who had already retired, probably did not expect that the aftermath of the purge he initiated was still rippling, and there were still people who wanted to dig out something from Hu Zongxian's old subordinates and implicate those officials who had had contact with Yan Song.

Shen Yiguan smiled bitterly and said:
"But the scholars introduced him to many important officials in the court, but this Xu Wenchang refused to accept any of them. I don't know where he heard your name from, but he insisted on becoming your advisor."

"Brother Zilin, if you don't want to, I can go talk to the scholars directly, and they won't vent their anger on you."

Su Ze said:
"Take me to see Xu Wenchang!"

(End of this chapter)