Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

Build the platform behind the temple.Chongzhen was dressed in a simple blue hat and sat upright inside the Yuntai Gate. Two court ladies each held a barrier fan and stood behind the dragon chair. On the left and right stood ten Jinyi guards and five internal officials.Even though he didn't wear a dragon robe, the emperor was still an emperor, surrounded by dozens of people in the middle, Chongzhen, who was dressed in plain clothes, still had the ultimate grace and majesty.The main officials of the cabinet, the five governments, and the six ministries lined up on both sides of the platform, and worshiped Chongzhen in turn according to the number of etiquette.After the salutes of the officials from various ministries were over, a thin and wizened middle-aged official at the end of the team also stepped forward. He was Zhan Shi, Huang Daozhou, the Minister of Zhan Shi who had been in Sanshu a few days ago.

"There are very few officials. This time, His Majesty summoned us to the platform. I am deeply grateful for Long's kindness and dare not not come." Huang Daozhou bowed respectfully and said in his mouth.

"En." Chongzhen nodded, ignored it, and turned to the left and right: "Why hasn't Yang Qing arrived yet?"

"I've already sent someone to remind me, it should be here in a while." Xi Zhao at the side replied.

"Okay." Chongzhen gave a short answer, and then said nothing, just waiting for Yang Sichang to come.The officials on the platform had no choice but to stand still with their hands down, waiting with the emperor together.The sun climbed above the head minute by minute, and the air gradually became hotter and hotter. The officials exposed to the sun couldn't bear the heat, quietly pulled up their sleeves, and wiped the sweat dripping from their foreheads and necks.Chongzhen sat silently in the door, not moving, occasionally glanced at the rear left door, where the courtiers entered.After about an hour like this, Yang Sichang finally showed his face through the back left door.

"Your Majesty is late in summoning you, please forgive me." Yang Sichang walked quickly to the front of the emperor, and knelt down to worship in panic.

At the time of widespread impeachment, Yang Qing probably wanted to avoid suspicion.Chongzhen thought to himself, he waved his hand, said it was all right, and dismissed it lightly.

——What's more, this platform meeting was originally held for another person.

two

"Cheng Guoxiang, Fang Fengnian, Cai Guoyong, Fan Fucui." As soon as Yang Sichang arrived, the meeting began immediately.Chongzhen cleared his throat, and read out the names of these four people first.

"The minister is here." "The minister is here."

When the four officials heard that the emperor called their names, they came out to worship one after another.

"Recently, there have been many changes. Most of the assistant ministers have left. The cabinet is empty. After Yang Qing, I will use you four people to join the cabinet this time. I hope you can share my worries for me and serve the country. Don't let me down. My expectation."

"Follow the imperial decree, thank the Lord Long Grace—!"

"En." Chongzhen nodded slightly, and said again, "These four of you have entered the cabinet in the past few days, and your vision may be different from before. If you have any thoughts on the government and society, you might as well take this opportunity to express your opinions."

"Yes." The four of them led the order, thought for a while, and said a few words of innocence.The emperor's ulterior motives, the hearts of these four people are like mirrors.There are often calls on the platform, but today there is an extra zodiac week that should not be listed, and the time of the call is just after the zodiac week has just connected to Sanshu. What is the emperor's intention? , it is obvious.The four of them knew that they were just the opening remarks of this meeting, so they all dealt with the matter in a simple and sensible way, and Chongzhen naturally didn't ask too many questions, after the opening remarks, they directly entered the topic.

"Huang Shaozhan's matter." Chongzhen cast his eyes on Huang Daozhou who was standing at the end of the line, and Huang Daozhou hurriedly took a step and stepped out of the queue.

"As we all know, Huang Qing is a rare giant of Confucianism. I don't know something today, can I ask Huang Qing for advice?"

When Huang Daozhou heard the words, he quickly knelt down on his knees and said in fear: "How dare you ask for advice? Your Majesty is a shameful minister. If your Majesty has any doubts, just ask."

"Okay." Chongzhen's lips curved, and he smiled slightly, but his eyes were as black as ink, but there was no hint of a smile. "I was not good at academics since I was a child, and now I only understand one or two of Confucianism by relying on routine scriptures. Based on what I have learned, I only feel that the words of the sages and sages are nothing more than the laws of nature and human desires. People's actions have nothing to do with it. Doing what you do is called the law of heaven, and doing it after doing something is called human desire. If there is more human desire, the natural law will be less, and the natural law and human desire cannot coexist. Am I right?"

"Your Majesty is wise and enlightened, what you said is correct." Huang Daozhou said.

"Well." After Chongzhen finished speaking, he suddenly stopped smiling and changed the topic, "Since that's the case, I want to ask Huang Qing for advice. The three memorials you made the day before yesterday were not too early or too late, and they were only listed in the list of cabinet ministers recommended by the court. When the four of them were used to enter the cabinet, but you were not appointed, did you do something, or did you do nothing?"

Huang Daozhou was startled for a moment, then calmed down, cupped his hands, and said calmly: "If you talk about the difference between doing something and not doing anything, it's just the difference between profit and righteousness. Those who seek profit take fame, honor and salary as their heart's desire." Seeking, doing everything for one's own selfishness, is for the desire of others; for righteousness, one seeks the world and the country in one's heart, and everything takes the community as the most important thing, which is the law of heaven. The three memorials of the ministers are all for the sake of the world, not for one's own honor, So confidence is an act of inaction.”

"Oh?" Chongzhen said calmly, "Then why did you not reprimand Yang Qing for seizing love at the beginning when you first joined the cabinet a few months ago? San Shu connected up and talked about being unfilial, how do you explain this?"

"This..." Huang Dao was stunned, speechless for a moment, silent for a while, and then he said, "Because... just because everyone impeached Mr. Yang and advocated peace talks, what I want to play is a matter of general ethics, I was afraid that I would be suspected of leading the battle, so I postponed going to Shu..."

Chongzhen smiled coldly, leaning slightly to the side of the dragon chair, Rumo's eyes went straight to Huang Daozhou, as if he wanted to penetrate directly into his chest and atrium.

"So...there are no more suspects now?"

"Chen..." Huang Daozhou's shoulders trembled, and a thick layer of sweat oozed from his forehead, but he still held up a righteous posture and said loudly: "The things I played are related to the order of the world, and what I played People are in charge of the border defense plan, if you don’t say anything now, you are afraid that if you say something in the future, it will damage the Ming Dynasty, so you have to go up and give advice to prevent problems before they happen.”

The emperor and Huang Daozhou talked back and forth, and the focus was only on himself. How could Yang Sichang, who was listening among the ministers, restrain himself.So he saw the right moment, took a step forward, knelt down and said:

"Your Majesty, don't criticize Mr. Huang. It is indeed wrong for a minister to seize affection in the code of ethics. It's just that the parents are small and the country is big. Now that the national crisis is imminent, I don't allow my ministers to only care about filial piety and disregard loyalty. For the sake of small righteousness, abandon the great righteousness." .My father served the country wholeheartedly during his lifetime, and he always taught like this. If you only think of filial piety and turn a deaf ear to the country's dangers, that is the greatest disfilial to my father." After finishing speaking, Yang Sichang changed his generous and tragic appearance, and turned to Huang Daozhou , saluted respectfully, "However... I also have something unclear, and I would like to ask Mr. Huang for advice."

Huang Daozhou glanced sideways and didn't answer.Yang Sichang didn't take it seriously, and said directly: "Master Huang's conduct and academics have always been respected by people, but Yang really doesn't know why Mr. Huang always thinks he is inferior to Zheng Xun in memorials? Zheng Xun is a rebellious son of Zhang's mother, and his crimes have already been committed. Conclusion. People say that beasts know their mothers but don’t know their fathers, and Zheng Yanzhang’s mother is not as good as beasts? What is the meaning of Master Huang’s frequent comparisons with him?"

"You...!" Yang Sichang was respectful on the surface, but his words were full of sarcasm, so angry that Huang Daozhou blushed immediately, pointed at Yang Sichang, and couldn't breathe. "You... you you...! A gentleman who knows the etiquette and hears people talk about it, he should avoid it. How can you come forward to argue like you at will, and don't allow others to say it!"

But Yang Sichang was not impatient, the corner of his mouth twitched, and he replied unhurriedly: "Master Huang's forgiveness is only for the sake of common human relations, the justice of heaven, and I don't allow this official not to come and confess."

Huang Daozhou was gagged by Yang Sichang, and became even more angry. He had no choice but to bow to Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty has learned from you. I have always been ashamed to criticize others in person. This time, arguing with Master Yang in front of His Majesty is really a crime." No, it's just that I can't let such disasters and chaos harm future generations, the laws of heaven are just, and people's hearts are at ease!"

Since Yang Sichang came out to debate with Huang Daozhou, Chongzhen never said a word, just sat in the Yuntai Gate, watching the farce with cold eyes.Seeing that the always aggressive Huang Daozhou came to seek justice from himself this time, it was funny, but he really couldn't laugh, and felt a burst of boredom in his chest.He looked at Yang Sichang, who was kneeling beside him holding his breath, and then at Huang Daozhou, who was full of anger and his eyes were like copper bells. Instead of laughing, he said slowly and expressionlessly: "He said you were compared with animals, but you I have already compared him to a pig, dog, and human owl, and when you look into this matter carefully, it seems that you were the one who scolded him first."

Zhugou Renxiao was indeed what he had said in the booklet. Hearing that the emperor proposed at this time, Zodiac Zhou was unreasonable all of a sudden, and his momentum finally softened a little. "Chen... I only dare to speak out because Your Majesty is a wise and heroic lord..."

"Blunt speech..." Chongzhen narrowed his eyes, "Blunt speech is this kind of unsightly scolding?"

"...If the minister is selfish, he only needs to exchange his silence for wealth, why bother arguing with him!" Zodiac Zhou became more energetic, even if he was wronged, he still refused to back down.

When Chongzhen heard the words, a strange look flashed in his eyes, he couldn't tell whether it was blame, self-deprecating, or something else. "If silence brings wealth and honor, I'm afraid my daily memorials will be reduced by half." After the momentary strangeness passed, Chongzhen's words were still as indifferent as usual.But Huang Daozhou's voice in that room was getting higher and higher, far less calm than Chongzhen. "It doesn't matter if you keep silent or argue, but I never put fame, wealth and honor in my heart. I have been taught by sages since I was a child. Even if I put aside wealth and honor, I can't bear to see unfilial things like seduction run rampant in the court!"

"Oh? Huang Qing is upright and upright, and he is beyond the reach of ordinary people." Chongzhen sneered, "Since you are willing to give up wealth and honor, why don't you just throw it away at this time?"

"...Fame, honor and wealth are things outside of the body. Your Majesty can take whatever you want, for the sake of righteousness and human relations, so why should I be afraid!"

"..." What the emperor can reward is nothing more than fame and wealth. Now Huang Daozhou is showing his disdain in front of everyone. No matter how patient Ren Chongzhen is, he can't hide his dismay in the face of this stubborn rotten scholar. "I knew that you were paranoid and stubborn, and it was difficult to take on a big responsibility. I only respected you as an academic master, so I gave you an official. Who knew that you were still so reckless and arrogant, and you didn't know how to restrain yourself. I should have severely punished you, as a warning to others, and remembered your classics." Yan lecturer, let's go back and wait for the order!" After finishing speaking, Chongzhen closed his eyes irritably, waved his hand, and signaled Huang Daozhou to back down.

"If you don't say everything today, you will be responsible to your majesty. If your majesty kills your minister today, you will be responsible to your majesty!"

Probably it was Yang Sichang's sarcasm that made Huang Daozhou's anger overwhelm his rationality. As soon as Chongzhen closed his eyes, he heard this loud shout rushing into his ears unceremoniously.He opened his eyes suddenly, only to see Huang Daozhou kneeling stiffly with his neck stuck, with a stubborn expression on his face.Seeing that Huang Daozhou uttered such disrespectful words, the officials on both sides of the platform bowed their heads and stood silently, trembling, not daring to speak out loudly.

"Okay, okay!" Huang Daozhou made provocative words several times, which made Chongzhen unable to hide his anger any longer, and his tone became hardened, "I respect you for being full of talents, but who knows that you have only learned a lifetime of knowledge?" Zhang Ningkou!"

"Since your Majesty says you are loyal and a sycophant, the minister dare not discriminate!" The emperor was already furious, but Huang Daozhou did not show any weakness and argued loudly, "The minister dares to speak up and speak out in front of your majesty. Could it be that the flatterer is the one?" Loyalty! If there is no distinction between loyalists and sycophants, good and evil will be confused, how can the world be ruled like this!"

How can the emperor bear it when a small minister speaks so contemptuously to the emperor and confronts the emperor tit for tat!The internal officials serving on the left and right were all anxious, and the Jinyi guards each clenched their knife handles, peeking at the emperor's expression, and only waited for the emperor's order to take down the rebellious official on the platform.But contrary to everyone's expectations, Chongzhen suppressed his anger instead, pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time, before speaking again, his voice was as cold as iron:

"Since this is the case, I will fulfill you. With Huang Daozhou downgraded to six levels and transferred to Jiangxi, Zhao Guangzhang, He Kai and others were downgraded to one level each as a punishment." Chongzhen propped up his chin with one hand, scanned the officials on the platform, his eyes were like pools of water Yiwang, bottomless, "You all accused Yang Qing of being unfilial for taking love, but when Yang He was imprisoned, Yang Qing was willing to die in place of his father, in order to punish his father lightly. May I ask who is there? So much filial piety! Listen to what I said today, and memorize it carefully. In the future, if someone like Huang Daozhou criticizes Yang Qing's seduction, the punishment will be more serious than Huang Daozhou's!"?