Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 122: Helping You Get on the Horse and Sending You on Your Way (Part 4)
The so-called five pests are the five types of people who harm the interests of the country mentioned by Han Fei in an article: Confucian scholars, diplomats, knights-errant, deserters, and businessmen. Among these five types of people, Han Fei listed Confucian scholars as the first of the pests within the country!
This view is of course incorrect, or not entirely correct. However, when a portion of it was quoted in a major newspaper like Jinling Daily, it naturally aroused strong disgust among the vast majority of Confucian scholars.
Such sentiments were strongly opposed by not only the Donglin gentlemen, but also Zhang Yicheng, the editor-in-chief of Jinling Daily at that time. However, under Zhu Youdong's repeated requests, especially after Zhu Youdong explained to Zhang Yicheng that if the Five Vermin were not published, it would not stimulate Donglin to enter the newspaper industry, and thus it would not be possible to control public opinion more effectively. Zhang Yicheng finally accepted it with a pinch of his nose.
In fact, it was because of the profound on-site education in the Huangce Library that Zhang Yicheng reluctantly cooperated. Because, a few months after the article was published, Sun Chengzong and Xiong Tingbi, who were far away in Mubang and Kuandian, also wrote to express their dissatisfaction. Shen Li and Lu Kun, who were unemployed at home, wrote directly to scold , forcing Zhu Youdong to write a letter in person to explain in detail and make various guarantees: I am just excerpting the original text, which does not mean that I support Han Fei's argument. Even if I take a step back, I am only against corrupt scholars, not great scholars like you teachers who are practical and useful. After all this trouble, it was barely passed.
Even the inner camp of the Crown Prince was so disgusted with this article, not to mention Donglin. As a result, Donglin Academy forcibly intervened in the newspaper industry when the conditions were not ripe, and then fell into this big quagmire.
Now, Donglin wants to use debate to create a hot topic, and of course it will choose "Five Vermin" as a breakthrough point.
Zhu Youdong’s reaction to such provocation was: Why should I accept it ?
"Shize, I'll leave this matter to you. We don't need to pay attention to Donglin's refutation of "Five Vermin". After all, we just quoted the original text at the beginning and did not take any position. A few months ago, didn't we also quote some articles by the strategists, military strategists, and yin-yang scholars in their original text? Didn't we not take any position on them? If we fight back against Donglin's article, wouldn't it be confirmed that we support the argument of "Five Vermin"?"
"Yes, Your Highness, rest assured. Don't think I will be fooled by Donglin's crude trap. Speaking of this, Donglin has given me a chance. I think that what I am responsible for now is to publish several articles on the 15th and 16th editions after Donglin's explanation of craftsmanship has been published for more than 20 issues, analyzing the changes in the writing styles of the top scholars since the founding of our dynasty."
"Hahahaha, clever! In this way, the common people and scholars who were grateful to Donglin in the beginning will probably hate Donglin to the core."
"Your Highness taught me this well. When you hit someone, you must first pull your fist back before you hit out to have more power!"
"That's right! But even though this matter doesn't go through Mr. Zhang's hands, you still have to inform Mr. Zhang before you do it. I can see that Mr. Zhang is in a very bad mood recently."
"Yes, I know what to do."
After explaining the countermeasures reported in the newspaper to Zhang Shize , Zhu Youdong called Tian Ergeng again.
"Have you figured out where Donglin's money came from?"
"Yes, my subordinates have already found out everything. Since June this year, the financial support from local gentry to Donglin Daily has been almost zero. The reason why Donglin has been able to expand their newspaper recently is mainly due to the funding from Li Sancai and the Xu family of Huating. The information I have received is that Li Sancai contributed 70,000 taels and the Xu family contributed 30,000 taels."
"Huh, Li Sancai, the governor of the Grand Canal, is actually so rich?"
"Haha, Your Highness, I received your instructions and sent someone to follow this person. I just found out that this person is very extraordinary. When this person met Gu Xiancheng from Donglin, the first time was in the front yard of Li Sancai's residence. Except for a fence, the whole place was open to the public. The two of them ate a dish of green vegetables and drank wine there. They also invited the old man at the gate to accompany them. The host and the guest had a very pleasant conversation. The next night, Li Sancai invited Gu Xiancheng to a restaurant he opened in Fengyang. The meal cost two thousand taels of silver."
"Humph! This guy can even betray his own teacher. What shameless thing can he not do?"
Wang Xijue was Li Sancai's teacher. He was forced to retire because of a conflict with Zhao Nanxing, a senior member of the Donglin Party, during the Beijing Inspection. However, Wanli always thought that Wang Xijue was a good prime minister, so after Shen Yikuan and Shen Li retired in 1606, Wanli wanted to invite Wang Xijue back.
But at this time, the Donglin Party was no longer a prototype, but a real entity. Therefore, the censors of the two capitals wrote to stop Wang Xijue from entering the court.
In 1607, Wang Xijue wrote a secret letter to Wanli himself and asked his family to deliver it to Beijing. In the letter, there was a sentence: All the impeachment memorials of the censors will be kept in the palace and not sent out, just treat them as the sounds of birds.
When Wang Xijue's family passed by Li Sancai's residence with the secret letter, Li Sancai got the messenger drunk, read the secret letter, and spread the contents widely... At this point, Wang Xijue's career was completely cut off. And Li Sancai, the guy who betrayed his mentor, was highly praised by the censors in the Ming Dynasty, a country known for its moral governance, as "sacrificing relatives for the sake of justice and being upright"...
Therefore, public opinion is so important. After all, whoever controls public opinion can say whatever they want!
"Your Highness, such a treacherous person who pretends to be loyal and deceitful should be removed as soon as possible. After all, I heard that the court is discussing the selection of capable ministers to join the cabinet. Li Sancai has a high reputation. What will happen if he joins the cabinet?"
As the crown prince, Zhu Youdong certainly knew what Tian Ergeng said about selecting cabinet ministers.
At this moment, the cabinet's chief minister is Zhu Geng, but the old man has been bedridden for a long time and is not far from his death. Yu Shenxing died of illness, and the second minister Li Tingji was impeached all day long and could not go to work at all. So at this moment, the cabinet is actually supported by the third minister Ye Xianggao alone.
Therefore, it is extremely necessary to increase the number of cabinet ministers at this time. Among the candidates, Li Sancai has the highest voice because of his acting skills and the collective support of his allies, the Donglin Party.
But Zhu Youdong knew that his grandfather would never allow Li Sancai to join the cabinet. Because in history, in order to prevent Li Sancai from joining the cabinet, Wanli would rather let Ye Xianggao serve as the sole prime minister for seven years than add any other cabinet elders - the Donglin faction was already strong, and it would be difficult to add cabinet elders without Li Sancai.
In fact, when they returned to Beijing at the end of last year, the grandfather and grandson had already reached a consensus on the dominance of Donglin, and they had also made a division of labor.
Zhu Youdong's mission is to stimulate the gentlemen of Donglin Academy, the foundation of the Donglin Party, to enter the newspaper industry, defeat Donglin Academy in the battle for public opinion, and destroy the follow-up power of the Donglin Party: this academy is too terrible, as long as it continues to exist, it will continuously produce countless Jinshi, and then completely control the Ming officialdom.
What Wanli had to do was to take the initiative to create controversy in the court about the issue of Li Sancai joining the cabinet, and let the court officials jump out themselves: all those who support Li Sancai are from the Donglin Party!
Now, in 1608, Zhu Youdong has seen the dawn of victory. Wanli, through the debate among officials on Li Sancai's entry into the cabinet, has figured out the embryonic form of the Donglin Party within the court.
So, now is the time to prepare to close the net!
