My country is dead again [Rebirth]

Today I came to Shishan Pavilion for important business, Xie Ruzhuo pushed Xie Mingting back to the desk to write an article, and signaled Du Ruo, who was quietly standing aside, to go to the side hall with him.

Du Ruo realized that the emperor had something to say, so he stepped up to follow.

As soon as he entered the side hall, Xie Ruzhuo turned around and turned to Du Ruo wanting to worship: "I have received great kindness from Mr. these years, and today I can finally thank you face to face."

Du Ruo supported Xie Ruzhuo vigorously, knelt down first, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, no."

Xie Ruzhuo stretched out his hand to help, but Du Ruo was afraid that Xie Ruzhuo would kneel down again, and refused to get up, saying: "A few years ago, I just met a student who was eager to learn but could not learn. A teacher should be like this, it is his duty."

"Okay, I won't thank you anymore." Xie Ruzhuo said helplessly, "Sir, please get up."

Du Ruozhong is Tanhua, he is still very young now, and he can always smell the fragrance of pine ink when he gets close. Everyone of the fifth-rank officials wears the same round-collared green robe and black-horned belt, but he feels more elegant. Carved from a piece of clear and moist jade, the word "gentleman is like jade" seems to be prepared for him, and the eyebrows are always smiling, no one sees it as much as Mu Chunfeng.

"A few years ago, I thought that His Highness the Sixth Highness would not be trapped in a courtyard in the future." Du Ruoxie sat down and said with a smile, "I saw His Majesty today, and it is so."

Xie Ruzhuo smiled and shook his head: "If there was no husband back then, I would not have walked out of that courtyard, nor would I have sat here."

Back then when no one cared about him in the cold palace, Du Ruo didn't treat him as a prince abandoned by the emperor, but like a teacher to a student, preaching and resolving doubts.Not only that, after Du Ruo heard that He Xiaoman used his monthly silver to buy pens, inks, papers and inkstones every month, he took over the job calmly, and sometimes handed in some snacks along with the manuscript.

After five years in the cold palace, Du Ruo was the only one who was willing to help them.And as Sun Bingde's student, the youngest Tanhualang, he had a bright future, so it didn't have to be like this.

"Your Majesty can be determined in such a situation, study hard, and you must achieve everything." Du Ruo said, "I ask myself that if I were in the situation of Your Majesty back then, I might not be able to do what Your Majesty did. Therefore, Your Majesty's today is your own. earned it."

Xie Ruzhuo just smiled and asked, "Sir, you have been in the Imperial Academy for seven years, and you were supposed to be in six departments, but I asked you to be the prince's teacher. Do you have any resentment?"

"Your Majesty was joking." Du Ruo shook his head, "Maybe my teacher thinks this is not a good thing, but I don't think so. Entering the Sixth Ministry is to do practical things, and now it is teaching the prince and learning knowledge. In fact, there is no difference in my heart. Asking about learning, enrolling as a student of the emperor, no matter where you are, compared with ordinary people, I can do a lot more for the people of the world, so this is what I wish in my heart. Today, I will teach His Royal Highness with all my heart, come If His Royal Highness can learn a thing or two from what I teach, I will feel that what I do today is meaningful."

When others heard the words of Sun Bingde's most proud student, they might think that this was a fake high-spirited flattery in front of the emperor, but Xie Ruzhuo knew that Du Ruo was such a person, otherwise he wouldn't have worked hard for four years. thing.

Xie Ruzhuo said with a faint smile, "Sir and Yuan Weng are very different."

"The teacher teaches me knowledge, but I decide what kind of person I want to be. I respect my teacher, but I will not follow my teacher blindly." Du Ruo's eyes were firm, "The teacher has what he wants to do, and the minister also has his own ideas. doing."

Xie Ruzhuo pointed out something and asked: "Have you heard about the fact that I am going to send troops south again?"

"I know." Du Ruo nodded, "Teacher, they don't agree."

"What do you think, sir?" Xie Ruzhuo raised his cup of tea and asked.

Du Ruo's expression didn't change because of the sensitivity of the conversation, but he still had a gentle smile on his face, and said: "Since your Majesty ascended the throne, everything you have done is for the country, and you have no selfishness, although I also feel that your Majesty's decision to send troops at this time is somewhat unexpected. , but I believe that His Majesty has careful consideration and will not joke about the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers."

At present, this is the first time Xie Ruzhuo has heard affirmative words. Although he knew that Du Ruo would say that, he still felt warm in his heart. He tilted his head and said, "Mr. You generally believe in me, but you don't believe in Yuan Weng?"

Du Ruo looked at Xie Ruzhuo calmly, and said: "The teacher doesn't know what His Majesty has done these years, but I know. The teacher has not read His Majesty's articles, but I have. The teacher does not understand His Majesty's ambition, but I understand. With These three points, I would like to believe in Your Majesty."

Xie Ruzhuo stood up and bowed to Du Ruo: "Thank you sir for your trust. The reason for this dispatch of troops to the south is complicated, so I'm sorry I can't explain it clearly. But I can guarantee that this decision will never disappoint sir's trust, nor will it disappoint me. General." Du Ruo got up to help him, and he bowed to the bottom, "Mister, please help me."

"Your Majesty speaks seriously." Du Ruo replied, "I am willing to share your Majesty's worries."

The next day, after taking a bath, it was rare that the afternoon was quiet and the sky was blue. Du Ruo passed the Chuihua Gate and saw Sun Bingde drinking tea with Jiang Xueyan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry who had just joined the cabinet.

He stepped forward to salute: "Teacher." Then he saluted Jiang Xueyan, "Mr. Jiang Ge."

This is a second-entry house. Sun Bingde is very elegant and never wrongs himself in daily life. After coming to Lezhou, he bought this house. It has been renovated in the past two months. The pond in the courtyard has been filled with clean water and red carps are raised. , Looking around, there are flowers and trees in four seasons, pears in spring, lotus in summer, chrysanthemums in autumn, and plums in winter. Look at this flawless white porcelain tea set on the stone table. Good tip.

"Fangzhou is here." Jiang Xueyan got up smartly, "You teachers and students talk, I'll go back first."

Sun Bingde didn't hold back much, Du Ruo sent Jiang Xueyan to the door for him, and when he came back, there was new tea in the cup.

Du Ruoxie sat down and said, "The students thought it was Mr. Han Ge who came to the door today, but they didn't expect it was Mr. Jiang Ge."

"Juezhi just came here in the morning." Sun Bingde invited him to drink tea, "There is nothing to say about this matter. Your Majesty is too impatient. How can you use troops so casually?"

Sun Bingde was wearing a dark blue Zhongjing gown with cross-collared and large sleeves. It was a swallow suit for officials of the third rank and above, decorated with cloud patterns. , Plain belt girdle.

He is very thin, with sharp knuckles holding a teacup, and there are two blobs of light green under his eyes all the year round, like a poor ascetic.

No matter how the court thinks of this Chief Assistant, Du Ruo also knows that it is not easy for Sun Bingde to sit in this position.The emperor can be lazy and push trivial matters he doesn't want to deal with to the cabinet, but he has no one to push.

Du Ruo heaved a long sigh in his heart, and asked: "The teacher objected so much, just because it's not appropriate to use troops at this time?"

Sun Bingde put down the teacup, and his crane eyes narrowed imperceptibly. When he looked at people with substance, he wanted to see through all the thoughts in the other person's heart, and said: "Fangzhou, you have been by my side for many years, what else is you? Don't understand?"

"Students understand." Du Ruo knew that he couldn't hide anything from Sun Bingde, so he no longer tried to test it out, "Teacher, I'm afraid that His Majesty will support the military and suppress civilian officials. It's not that the cabinet and all the adults disagree with His Majesty's use of troops, but you can't follow His Majesty every time." Heart. Every time His Majesty decides when to send troops, who to use, and how to rebuild the three major battalions, His Majesty will have his own military power, and there will be a group of generals he can trust. There are so many positions for civil servants."

Sun Bingde splashed the tea foam from the bottom of the cup and said, "Your Majesty is going to see you at Shishan Pavilion."

There was no doubt in the tone of the words, Du Ruo could only nod: "Yes."

"Your Majesty asked you to persuade me?" Sun Bingde smiled, "I didn't expect Fangzhou to be so trusted by His Majesty."

Du Ruo kept giving things to the Sixth Prince secretly. Even Sun Bingde never said that his teacher was different from him and would not treat the Sixth Prince as a studious student. He was afraid that one more person would know, so Xie Ruzhuo would It was an extra trouble, so I went to the imperial hospital and invited the imperial physicians Sun Bingde knew, and they all gave me a lot of money as a hush money afterwards.

Now it seems that this matter cannot be kept secret anymore, Sun Bingde already has the answer in his heart, if he doesn't reveal it today, Sun Bingde will investigate it tomorrow.He said eloquently: "When the student was teaching the two princes a few years ago, he accidentally met the current governor. He learned that His Highness the Sixth Prince was still studying hard in the cold palace, so he asked the governor to pass on the information every day. Some manuscripts for lectures, and His Highness the Sixth Highness will hand over the written strategies and some questions the next day. The students are afraid of getting into trouble, so they have kept silent, and they did not intend to hide it from the teacher."

Sun Bingde's smile did not fade, and said: "It turns out that my students have long had a teacher-student friendship with His Majesty, but I only know it now, and I don't know what to think at the moment."

Du Ruo's knuckles turned white, but he still sat firmly and said, "As the teacher said, the teacher should understand what the student is thinking after following you for so many years."

A gust of wind blew a dead leaf onto the stone table. Sun Bingde picked it up, looked at it, and threw it on the ground. Of course he understood what his most satisfied student was thinking. A person who is transparent, but always has a heart like a jade, only the breeze and the moon can match him in the world.

Sometimes Sun Bingde himself can't believe that he can still teach such a student.

Sun Bingde looked at him and said, "So you are going to side with His Majesty this time. Or, from the very beginning, you have already been on His Majesty's side?"

Du Ruo seemed to feel a little absurd, and said: "Actually, the students have never understood why the teacher insisted on placing himself and all the civil servants in a position opposite to His Majesty from the very beginning. Is it necessary?"

"Wen Yanbo said that to rule the world with the literati, not with the common people. So you think that we literati and the emperor are really in the same boat and rule the world together?" Sun Bingde added water to the cup, and the tea taste was much weaker , "We studied hard in the cold window, and when we entered the Tianzitang, who didn't want to serve the people wholeheartedly, and want to eat the emperor's salary and loyalty to the emperor? It's only when you enter the imperial court that you realize that these principles are the most useless. We entered Here, you are not yourself, and you all bear the name of civil servant."

"Does Your Majesty believe us?" He continued with the same serious expression as when he was giving lectures to students for many years, "Yes. Because the emperor really needs us to rule the world together, and we can't count on ignorant people. But for a long time Since then, because of too much trust in us, suspicion and suspicion will gradually arise, and we will also feel afraid. We realize how great our power is, we can check and balance the imperial power that should be arbitrary, and we can control the important affairs of the country. So the emperor cultivated A military general with a heavy army, set up brocade guards to penetrate every corner of the officials. This is not enough, the emperor trusted the eunuchs, granted the red power to the supervisor of ceremonies, and let the admiral Da Dang supervise the East Factory."

"In the end, civil servants are no longer the only ones in the court who can control political affairs. So it is the turn of civil servants to gradually lose trust in the emperor when they entered the court with enthusiasm at the beginning, and feel afraid of imperial power. Therefore, although civil servants are constantly fighting among parties, facing the emperor, The civil servants are always single-minded. That is - from the beginning, we cannot trust the emperor, we must stand in the opposite position, let the emperor be afraid of us, so that we will not be afraid of the emperor and can do what we want to do."

The author has something to say: Sun Bingde's words were inspired by my reading of Mr. Wu Han's "A Brief History of the Ming Dynasty". There is a chapter in it on the power of gentry under the ancient imperial power. After reading it, I was very inspired.Mr. Wu Han believes that the so-called gentry group in ancient times ruled the world together with the emperor, which to a certain extent restricted the feudal imperial power that reached its peak. This is a very important force to maintain the development of ancient Chinese society.The relationship between the gentry group and the emperor has always been both close and alienated, and there are conflicts from time to time, but no one can do without the other.

On the basis of Mr. Wu Han's theoretical research, I have expanded some, but it is still quite superficial.

ps There is a little cutie in the comment area of ​​this chapter, and there is a very good interpretation, which is better than the author himself, and completely said what I want to say, I recommend everyone to read it!It's the longest one!