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There is an old saying in the Central Plains halls, "Reputation can melt gold, and slander can bone a person."
For instance, before the seventeenth year of Jia Shen, there was a story circulating in the Great Ming, even reaching the Great Qing:
It is said that during the Hongwu era, a captain became involved with his neighbor's wife. This woman was truly beautiful; even though the officer had seen countless people, he was captivated by her. Let us temporarily call this woman Xiao Mei and the captain "Old Wang."
One day, Xiao Mei's husband went out to work. Old Wang, seeing the man leave, slipped into his neighbor's house. Then, Old Wang and Xiao Mei engaged in passionate activities. However, after only a few rounds of intimacy, the courtyard gate suddenly opened. Xiao Mei's husband had returned. Old Wang, in a moment of panic, quickly put on his underpants and scrambled under the bed. Xiao Mei tidied herself up, opened the door, and asked, "Husband, why have you returned halfway?"
Xiao Mei's husband was a simple and honest man. Not only did he not suspect Xiao Mei, but he became even more caring towards her: "Wife, you were sleeping when I left. I saw your feet were exposed. I didn't pay much attention at the time, but as I walked on the road, I found it very cold. I thought if the cold wind blew into the house, you might catch a chill. I've come back to cover you with a blanket!"
Xiao Mei acted spoiled and told her husband not to worry, so Xiao Mei's husband went out again.
If the story ended here, it would simply be a small account of a married woman's tryst with a handsome official, which would not be a significant matter. The problem is that the story did not end here, because the one under the bed was suddenly moved. He thought, "This husband treats her so well, and yet Xiao Mei actually has an affair behind his back. It's truly shameless!"
Indeed, Old Wang felt that Xiao Mei's affair with him was a supremely shameless act. With a pang of conscience, he crawled out from under the bed and killed his lover, Xiao Mei, with a single blow. After killing her, he swaggered off to work.
When Old Wang started his shift, he ate and drank as usual. Meanwhile, Xiao Mei's home was in an uproar – the old man who delivered vegetables to Xiao Mei's house knocked on the door multiple times with no response. He pushed the door open and found Xiao Mei lying in a pool of blood.
The old man who delivered vegetables to Xiao Mei's house was terrified. After much deliberation, he decided to report it to the authorities. However, the old man was unlucky because the officials of the Great Ming were generally incompetent. Based on the reasoning principle, "If you didn't kill the person, why are you reporting it?" they directly sentenced the vegetable delivery old man to death.
If the story ended here, at most it would be another miscarriage of justice. It would be disgusting enough, but it wouldn't be considered particularly bizarre. The problem is that the story did not end here – on the day of the execution, Old Wang, who had killed Xiao Mei, once again swaggered in and shouted, "The married woman was killed by me, so why should another pay with their life?"
The supervising official saw that something was wrong and quickly reported it up the chain of command, eventually reaching Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was not one to hesitate; he summoned Old Wang and asked him face-to-face, "Why did you kill her?"
Captain Old Wang calmly replied, "This woman was my neighbor. Because she was beautiful, I had an affair with her. That day, before we had finished our business, her husband returned. I hid under the bed and heard what her husband said. I felt I was not human, but I was even more angry with this woman – her husband treated her so well, yet she committed adultery. It was too unfaithful to her husband, so I killed Xiao Mei. Later, I heard that the old man who sold vegetables was wrongly accused as the murderer and was to be beheaded. At that moment, I could no longer bear it. I did it myself, so I should bear the consequences myself!"
Zhu Yuanzhang listened and nodded, saying, "Killed a faithless person and saved an innocent one, this is a good deed!" (Original text: Killed a faithless person, saved an innocent one, this is excellent.)
Isn't that bizarre enough?
What with a garrison captain having an affair with a neighbor's wife, incompetent officials making wrong judgments and causing wrongful cases, and Zhu Yuanzhang showing no sense of justice, it not only contains the implications of a romantic tale but also gathers various reversals, and in the end, it even conveniently absolved Old Wang.
Thus, this story spread throughout the Great Ming, though it only began to spread slowly after the Zhengde era. Before the Zhengde era, neither the emperor nor the common people had heard of this matter, because it is a story recorded in "Qian Wen Ji" (Previous Records).
Anyone familiar with the old brother Zhu Zhishan should understand by now that this is another article fabricated to smear Zhu Chongba.
Similarly, there is the incident of Fang Xiaoru's extermination of the ten kinship groups.
It is said that at that time, Zhu Laosi, seeing that feigning madness was no way to escape the nephew's deadly hands, simply flew into a rage and overturned Zhu Yunwen's court. After the Yan army entered Nanjing, Zhu Yunwen disappeared. Zhu Laosi could only helplessly declare, "This is ultimately my nephew's empire. Now that he is missing, I, as his uncle, will reluctantly act as emperor on his behalf for the time being."
Then, Zhu Laosi demanded that Fang Xiaoru write the imperial edict for his enthronement.
The description of this historical event in "Ming Shi" (History of Ming) states, "Xiaoru threw his brush to the ground, weeping and cursing, saying, 'Death is death, but the edict cannot be drafted.' Chengzu was enraged and ordered him to be dismembered in the marketplace. The description in "Tai Zong Shi Lu" (Veritable Records of Emperor Taizong) states, 'The treacherous officials Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, etc., were apprehended and brought before the palace. The Emperor enumerated their crimes, and they all confessed and were subsequently executed in the marketplace.'"
However, the "Tai Zong Shi Lu," which has been altered by the dog Ji countless times, does not mention the extermination of Fang Xiaoru's ten kinship groups. Even "Ming Shi," which is solely dedicated to slandering the Great Ming, does not record this matter. The books such as "Li Zhai Xian Lu" and "Ge Chu Lu" written by Song Duanyi during the Chenghua era, which concern the loyal officials of Jianwen, only state, "Their clans were exterminated," but there is no mention of "extermination of ten kinship groups."
"Ming Shi" also records that after Fang Xiaoru and his younger brother Fang Xiaoyou were killed in Nanjing, Fang Xiaoru's wife, Madam Zheng, and two of his four sons, Fang Zhongxian and Fang Zhongyu, hanged themselves. His two daughters also jumped into the river and died. However, this was not "clan extermination" by Zhu Di, but rather their wife, daughters, and sons sacrificing themselves after the husband was killed.
True university students were genuine treasures, a scarce human resource.
Even the modern-day jest about "undergraduates everywhere, vocational school graduates are worthless" is actually a complete fabrication.
However, this does not mean that Emperor Zhu would indulge these scholars indefinitely.
As everyone knows, the group of scholars is the most peculiar.
They are young, they are passionate, they are indignant at the world's injustices, and they cannot stand any wrongdoing.
But their biggest flaw is that they think they are very clever and are easily swayed.
They only care about the ideals they recognize in their hearts.
If these ideals are correct, it's fine. But what if the ideals they insist on are wrong?
For example, those idiots holding white paper and shouting slogans, or those bastards shouting that "the atmosphere of human life has begun to recover"—perhaps, the atmosphere of human life is not connected to itself?
Therefore, the passion of scholars is essentially a double-edged sword; it can easily harm the enemy and also harm oneself.
As for whether scholars will dare to step forward when a nation and its people face life-or-death crises...
Yue Wumu was not a scholar by traditional definition. Before the Chairman entered Hunan First Normal University, he had half a year of military experience.
On the contrary, Qian Qianyi, who was too lukewarm, came from the Donglin faction. Wang Zhaoming, who plotted to assassinate Regent Zaifeng, was a Xiucai.
Don't forget, there is another old saying in the Central Plains halls: "Righteousness often comes from the butcher's son, while infidelity is often from the scholar."
What kind of ridiculous logic is this!
Zhu Jinsong was displeased, and his expression naturally grew colder: "If they are willing to come, should I stop them? Don't you also want to know what they intend to do?"
These were over three thousand Jinshi!
But killing over three thousand scholars would be an unprecedented event!
More importantly, these three thousand Jinshi were only those who had arrived outside the palace; there were more on the way who had not yet arrived!
And behind these people were thousands of families, easily involving tens of thousands of people!
Upon thinking of thousands of scholars and their families, or rather clans, Zeng Cheng felt a dizzying sensation, as if the sky was about to collapse!
This was a desperate measure, as it was not a solution. After all, revoking the scholarly status of thousands of people was almost insignificant compared to the impact of killing thousands of Jinshi!
However, Emperor Zhu coldly scoffed, staring at Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemeng, "Do you know what 'Son of Heaven' means?"
As for Emperor Zhu's question, let alone the well-read Zeng Cheng, even Liu Hemeng, who came from a military background, knew the meaning of "Son of Heaven."
The logic was sound, but the moment they gathered outside the palace shouting for the abolition of the ancestral rule that "only scholars are not allowed," the nature of everything changed.
Forcing the Son of Heaven to amend ancestral rules was tantamount to denying Zhu Chongba, and denying Zhu Chongba was tantamount to denying the legitimacy of Emperor Zhu's ascension from the root.
Denying an emperor who conquered the world with force...
After pondering for a long time, Zeng Cheng tentatively advised, "Your Majesty, those scholars are mostly fools who have been brainwashed by their studies. I believe that according to what the Grand Commander suggested, revoking their scholarly status and sending them back to their hometowns, never to be employed again, would suffice. Why should Your Majesty's reputation be tarnished because of them?"
However, just as Zeng Cheng finished speaking, a hurried Jin Yi Wei captain rushed into the hall and whispered a few words to Ke Zhiming before quickly departing.
Emperor Zhu scoffed again and said, "What new news is there? Please tell me."
Ke Zhiming, with a dark and gloomy expression, bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, those scholars... those scholars are shouting slogans, demanding that Your Majesty come out of the palace to see them. They also said that if Your Majesty does not come out to see them, they will go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Temple of Confucius to cry for the temple."
It's all over!
After hearing Ke Zhiming's words, Zeng Cheng knew that this matter was completely finished today. Regardless of whether Emperor Zhu had been persuaded before or had thought of changing his decision, there was no longer any room for reconciliation.
Emperor Zhu laughed in anger, looking at Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemeng, "Is this what you call being brainwashed by studies? In my opinion, they are not too foolish; at least they know to go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to cry for the temple!"
Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemeng lowered their heads and exchanged glances, each seeing helplessness in the other's eyes. As the saying goes, even the King of Hell cannot save a damned soul. These scholars not only ran to the palace to pressure the emperor instead of studying properly, but now they are even going to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Temple of Confucius to cry for the temple?
This is truly asking for death!
After a long silence, Zeng Cheng couldn't help but sigh softly, then resolutely cupped his hands and bowed, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I request that the Grand Commander mobilize the Capital Garrison into the city, and after nightfall, execute all disloyal rebels!"
Emperor Zhu couldn't help but cast a surprised glance at Zeng Cheng.
Although mobilizing the Capital Garrison to arrest and execute people was a foregone conclusion, the command being issued directly by Emperor Zhu was entirely different from Zeng Cheng proposing it. If Emperor Zhu directly issued an order to mobilize troops to arrest and kill, then all the blame would fall on Emperor Zhu, and the historical reputation of being cruel and bloodthirsty would fall upon him.
However, by having Zeng Cheng, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, propose it directly, it meant that Zeng Cheng was actively taking on the blame for massacring scholars. Although Emperor Zhu might be criticized for his poor judgment in choosing officials, he would at least avoid the infamy of being cruel and bloodthirsty.
The difference in this was immense. Moreover, once Zeng Cheng bore this burden, he would face endless impeachment and even retaliatory assassinations.
First, the Censorate would submit a memorial impeaching Zeng Cheng for unauthorized troop mobilization and harming scholars. The Ministry of Scrutiny would also summon Zeng Cheng for questioning. If they found any small fault, Zeng Cheng might face certain death.
Even if the Censorate and the Ministry of Scrutiny could not find any faults with Zeng Cheng, would the relatives of the slain scholars not seek revenge against Zeng Cheng?
As the Grand Secretary of the Great Ming and an old hand who had served as a prefect in the Great Qing, Zeng Cheng could not possibly be unaware of the risks involved. This means that when Zeng Cheng proposed this suggestion, he had already prepared himself for certain death.
Just as Zeng Cheng was closing his eyes slightly, preparing to face an unknown fate, Liu Hemeng suddenly chuckled and said to Zeng Cheng, "Although Grand Secretary Zeng is the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, your cabinet does not control my Grand Commandant's Office. Therefore, if troops are to be mobilized, the order should be given by me, the Grand Commandant."
After speaking, Liu Hemeng bowed solemnly to Emperor Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, I am a hopeless blockhead who cannot be propped up by mud. You asked me to study more, but I simply couldn't absorb it, and there's nothing I can do about it."
"However, even if I am foolish, I remember the hardship of sweat dripping like beans when farming, and the bitterness of waking up hungry in the middle of the night and having to rely on drinking water to quench my thirst. I also understand a principle: the popularization of community schools, county schools, and prefectural schools is to enable everyone in the land to study and understand reason, and to provide everyone with a way out, so that they do not have to be blind as we were in the past."
"Those scoundrels are now shouting for the restoration of the imperial examinations, simply because they have already become provincial graduates. They do not want more people to become provincial graduates. They want to cut off the paths for others. They want to manipulate the people of the world as they did before."
Liu Hemeng took a deep breath and continued, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty, I wish to mobilize the Capital Garrison into the city without an imperial decree to quell the rebellion!"
After speaking, Liu Hemeng took another deep breath, bowed heavily to Emperor Zhu, and then prepared to leave.