Unofficial History of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty

After Jiang Bin got this order, he had no choice but to bid farewell to Wang Ji and follow the Jin Yiwei to Nanjing.The Jinjiang River in Nanjing has beautiful mountains and rivers. Jiang Bin stopped and stopped all the way, and arrived at the home of Yang Yiqing, the official secretary of Huagaidian University, who was nearly sixty years old in Dantu, Nanjing, in the evening of the next day.

When Jiang Bin was ushered in, he met Emperor Zhengde who was feeding Yang Yiqing's nephew in the main room.Yang Yiqing's half-brother is almost 20 years younger than him, so his nephew is only two and a half years old, but children at this age already know people, and naturally they don't want to be fed by strangers, and they vomit after eating. Come, make Emperor Zhengde covered with rice grains.In stark contrast to the faces of the nurse on the side and Zhang Zhong, the eunuch of the imperial horse supervisor, was Emperor Zhengde's good temper. He patiently picked off the rice grains Yang Yiqing's little nephew spit on him, and stuffed them into his little nephew's mouth. mouth.Jiang Bin couldn't stand it anymore, and stepped forward to snatch the little nephew from Emperor Zhengde's arms and stuffed it back into the nurse's arms: "Where is Yang Shangshu?"

"In the study." Emperor Zhengde didn't think there was anything wrong with treating other people's homes as his own and treating other people's nephews as his own.

"Is it really too happy to think about going these few days?"

"Why should the emperor bother with those..."

"It's you." Emperor Zhengde patted Jiang Bin's nose with a child's hand.

Jiang Bin bowed his head to reflect, Emperor Zhengde curled his lips and said, "Change and go! See you later."

Jiang Bin knew who the honored guests mentioned by Emperor Zhengde were, but he also knew that Emperor Zhengde only brought Zhang Zhong to Nanjing in person, and the people he met were by no means ordinary people.

When Jiang Bin changed his clothes, Zhang Zhong was already waiting outside.Jiang Bin followed Emperor Zhengde all day long, and he hadn't seen Zhang Zhong for a while. Seeing that he was ordered to wait here to guide him, he politely said, "Please trouble Eunuch Zhang."

Zhang Zhong nodded and led him to the central hall.

In the hall, apart from Emperor Zhengde who was sitting in the upper seat, there were Yang Yiqing, Minister of War, Qiao Yu, Minister of Nanjing War, Yang Wei, eunuch guarding Nanjing, and two other strange men.

Qiao Yu got up and introduced the two of them to Jiang Bin.One of them, Wang Qiong with thin eyebrows and long eyes, wearing a square scarf and Taoist robe, named Dehua, was a 22-year-old Zhongju. He met Qiao Yu when he was visiting Guanshan in Pingding Prefecture, and became a friend of Guan Bao. At the age of 26, he became a Jinshi, awarded as the head of the Ministry of Industry, and later served as a doctor in Dushui. He was appreciated by the court for his outstanding achievements in governing the Caohe River. Deputy Capital Censor Du Yanzheng.In the third year of Zhengde, he was appointed as the right servant of the Ministry of Officials, but it was at the time when Liu Jin and other eunuchs were under the dictatorship. Officials must first have a "red book" to pay homage to Liu Jin. The Minister of the Ministry also sewed up his old friend Qiao Yu, and was recommended by him.

And the other one, wearing a Dongpo scarf and a blue running suit with a happy face and beautiful eyebrows, was Wang Shouren, who was recommended by Wang Qiong as "keeping the world peaceful".Wang Shouren, courtesy name Bo'an, was born in a family of officials and eunuchs. He was able to write poems at the age of ten, read the art of war at the age of 13, traveled to the border at the age of 14, and failed the Jinshi examination at the age of 22. At that time, Yang Yiqing's brother Li Dongyang, who is now the chief assistant of the cabinet, said that he must become a great weapon , but there are also those who are jealous of talents who say that if they are in the top rank, they will be in the eyes of no one. Therefore, Wang Shouren was suppressed by the taboos in the re-examination at the age of 25, and he did not win the rank. In the first year of Zhengde, he was relegated to Guizhou Longchang Yicheng.

Emperor Zhengde lingered at Yang Yiqing's mansion and was waiting for these two.

Jiang Bin bowed to the two of them, and felt strange. The last time he met Qiao Yu in Nanjing, he shut Emperor Zhengde out of the city gate sternly and selflessly, but this time he privately recommended talents to Emperor Zhengde.Could it be that the relationship between the monarch and his ministers is far closer than what the world thinks?Perhaps the farce scene in Nanjing was also made for others to see.If this is the case, besides being expelled by Liu Jin back then, the two people recommended must have other unique features that made Emperor Zhengde personally meet them.

Emperor Zhengde also put away his cynical attitude early at this time, and left the left and right, leaving only Zhang Zhong alone, saying: "I have listened to the conversation between Bo An and Mr. Yangming these few days, it is really enlightening, so I recruited my adoptive son Jiang Bin came here to meet, and we have important matters to discuss in the future, so don't hide it from him."

As soon as Jiang Bin was seated, he heard what Emperor Zhengde said, and got up quickly to salute the others.

Yang Yiqing had seen him before, with a flick of his white eyebrows and a flick of his white beard, he seemed to be smiling.As usual, Qiao Yu kept a straight face and showed no expression.Wang Qiong nodded slightly to Jiang Bin, Wang Shouren looked at Jiang Bin and said, "The Zuo Dudu is an official, why?"

Jiang Bin was taken aback for a moment, wondering why Wang Shouren would ask this question, but seeing that the others were also a little surprised but didn't intend to interrupt, he also respectfully said, "I hope you don't feel ashamed."

"What is the foundation of the heart?"

"Good and evil right and wrong."

"What is 'good' and what is 'evil'?"

"Following the laws of heaven is 'good', otherwise, it is 'evil'."

"If your 'good' is 'evil' in the eyes of others, how should you conform to the law of heaven?"

Jiang Bin's heart tightened, but he couldn't answer for a while.

Good and evil are nothing more than a decision made by a person according to the "law of heaven" in his heart. How can he conclude that his doing good and renouncing evil is a good deed of conscience in the eyes of others?Jiang Bin had never shaken his heart to benefit the people before, even if he climbed to a high position through contempt and scorn, he would not hesitate to climb to a high position, but now, facing Wang Shouren's questioning, he suddenly found it difficult to justify himself.In order to achieve what he called 'good', he did not hesitate to do evil. Is this also conforming to the law of heaven?Jiang Bin hasn't come to this point yet, but he can foresee unscrupulous methods in the future.

"Thank you sir for teaching me."

Jiang Bin bowed deeply, but knew that there was no way out.