Gao Gong pondered for a moment, then smiled again and said:
"Junze, and all of you... Old man knows you may still have doubts. I have called you here today to clarify my intentions! Junze, you probably suspect old man of conspiring with Yan Song, don't you?"
Wu Du lowered his head and replied, "Your student dares not."
"Hmm,"
Gao Gong said with a serious expression:
"I can tell you clearly – Yan Shifan did indeed send Yan Maoqing to find me, right after the last grand court session. However, I sternly refused him! Yan Song and Yan Shifan are scoundrels, corrupting the nation and harming the people. How could I associate with them!
However, this matter of Yin Yang was indeed orchestrated by me. As soon as the incident occurred, I sent a letter... Why? You must understand, the Great Ming is already rotten to the core... For decades, we have studied and lived in the world, for what purpose? Is it not to save the common people from suffering? To prop up a collapsing mansion? To turn the tide against a falling tide?
However, time is running out. You have all seen how powerful Zhu Mo is, yet he cannot bring down the Yan family... And if the Yan family cannot be brought down, how can we administer the entire realm? My actions are like Wu Zixu's revenge on Chu, 'My days are numbered and my journey far, so I act against the norm and perversely'...
However, you should know my character well. My actions are a scheme to pit tiger against wolf! Yan Song is powerful, and Zhu Mo is rebellious. One corrupts the nation and harms the people, the other deviates from established principles. Neither is of our kind! By positioning myself in the middle this time, I will instigate a major conflict between them. Not only will one of them fall, but the other will also be severely weakened. We, holding the power in the middle, will then have the opportunity to reorganize the realm... If this realm is not reorganized, it will perish without delay... Alas..."
Having said this,
Gao Gong was filled with immense grief and anger, his eyes about to burst. He was deeply moved himself... Yang Zongqi and Lu Huang, who had always been his ardent admirers, were almost in tears.
Wu Du pondered for a while, feeling that these words were still somewhat specious. It was clear that his mentor, knowing his time was short, was willing to take a gamble. If successful, he would become Grand Secretary and embark on a grand plan; if he failed, he would simply go home...
After thinking for a moment, he finally nodded and said:
"My mentor's lifelong aspiration is for the welfare of the realm. Your student has no objections..."
One must know,
In the era of the Great Ming, the relationship between master and disciple was one of the five cardinal relationships. Betrayers often met a bad end. Naturally, everyone could only agree.
Indeed,
Good!
Gao Gong stroked his beard and said:
"From today onwards, we must unite our strength... For now, you must heed my three rules –
First, the doctrines of Legalism must be kept in our hearts, and not revealed to outsiders; Second, not only must Yangming's philosophy be respected as official learning, but it must also be considered paramount; Third, taking advantage of this chaos, you must mobilize people through various channels to obtain evidence of the Yan family's collusion with scholars and academies across the realm. Once this matter is settled, I will eradicate the Yan faction under the charge of treason!"
Hiss!
Wow!
Everyone was both fearful and a little excited.
One must know,
Others might not know, but they were well aware that Gao Gong was the most ruthless and cunning, yet he appeared careless and absent-minded, which only served to lull others into a false sense of security.
Yan Song and Yan Shifan, while understanding that Gao Gong was not simple, could never have imagined that once Gao Gong made his move, it would be an irreversible downfall.
...
Meanwhile,
At the Yan Residence.
Old Yan Song lay reclined on his couch, wearing reading glasses, and carefully read the articles written by Wei Liangbi and Gao Hanwen. He closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then suddenly said, "Have you thought of a title?"
Yan Shifan replied, "Father, not yet. Master Wei suggested 'The Theory of Sage Governance,' and Old Luo suggested 'The Discourse of the Uncrowned King.' The others also fumbled with a few, but I felt they weren't suitable, so I didn't mention them..."
Hmm,
Yan Song, after all, was a man of great talent. Although he hadn't read books for decades, after reading these, many books from his youth came back to him. He murmured, "The Discourse of the Uncrowned King, The Theory of Sage Governance... these are too grand. Master Wei's scholarship is excellent, but we don't need such a startling pronouncement. I think, this article is meant to guide people subtly, why not call it 'A Chapter on Exhortation to Learning'? It is neither humble nor overbearing, and can be presented to academies and scholars across the land for discussion..."
Hmm,
Good!
The Grand Secretary is truly talented!
A group of household retainers praised him one after another, each face showing great admiration.
Yan Song, having suffered two major setbacks, had no mood to listen to flattery. He waved his hand and said:
"Stop flattering me and let's discuss serious matters... The article is done, but what should be the next step? Everyone speak your minds..."
Everyone immediately lowered their heads again.
Yan Shifan coughed and said, "The tone has long been set... We, these people, will not step forward this time. We will let the gentry of the realm take the lead, but we cannot do nothing either... Old Luo, you have a good mind, tell us what you think?"
Luo Longwen forced a smile and said:
"Little Grand Secretary makes things difficult for his subordinates... I believe the first step is to build momentum. That memorial, Xu Jie held it back, but it cannot be suppressed. It must be submitted within these two days. We must seize these days to build the momentum, and it must be orderly, not a chaotic rush, after all, this is a major matter of scholarly principle for the entire realm, so it must be treated with seriousness...
The second step, however, depends on Gao Gong. Since he accepted Jingqing's great gift, he must do something. I believe that once the momentum builds, we must strike while the iron is hot and urge Yin Zhengmao to execute a few ruffians as soon as possible. If he suddenly turns against us and refuses to kill, we will have Old Zheng use the imperial command token to kill them... In short, there must be bloodshed, for our 'A Chapter on Exhortation to Learning' to have weight. Only then will scholars across the land understand what it truly means to respect imperial learning as the head of official learning, and it will be made clear...
The third step, to completely bring down Zhu Mo, we must sever the Emperor's support for him. How can we prevent the Emperor from supporting him? That is to clearly and thoroughly explain Zhu Mo's trick of ostensibly imitating the Taizu but inwardly implementing Qin laws, and to publish it across the land, so that he can never recover.
In addition, reform must be halted this time. If Zhang Taiyue is sensible, he will stop it himself. If he is not sensible, we will stop it. We must not be caught with our pants down and arrested in one go. And to halt reform, there is only one way, and that is to have those who have pledged donations flock to the state-run banks, and then tell those dirt-poor debtors who have borrowed money that if they do not return the money, the yamen will come to apprehend them... Once all this is made clear, the reform will naturally stop. kuAiδugg
These are my three steps."
Clap clap
Clap
This time, it was Yan Shifan who clapped incessantly.
"Old Luo is indeed Old Luo, he's so good at mischief, one trick after another... That's how it should be! First build momentum, then draw blood, then strike at the heart, and after pulling the rug from under them, seal the coffin!"
Mmm,
Mmm,
Everyone nodded gravely, feeling that this strategy was much more mature than the last, and they didn't even have to show their faces. Moreover, bringing down Mo should have been the shared responsibility of all Confucian scholars in the realm. The Yan family had already taken the lead twice; surely, all the scholars of the realm should take the lead once.