The first to come to the cabinet was Ding Shaoshi.

Ding Shaoshi was a little surprised to see Wei Bao come so early, "Lord Wei, do you want to face the saint today?" ”

Wei Bao nodded: "Originally, His Majesty recruited me into Beijing." ”

"Well, but I don't know if Your Majesty will go to court today." Ding Shaoshi said: "Otherwise, you can ask the eunuch in charge to see if His Majesty will invite you to meet in the palace." ”

"Don't ask, it's good to see it, and if you can't see it, just follow it." Wei Bao smiled: "It was His Majesty who recruited me into Beijing, and I didn't want to come by myself." ”

"Hehe, Lord Wei is quite Taoist, but it's a pity that the current lord is not Jiajingye, otherwise you will definitely be more valued." Ding Shaoshi smiled and said, "Let's go, let's go to my room and have a cup of tea." ”

"Okay." Wei Bao agreed without even thinking about it.

As for whether getting close to a Donglin Party minister like Ding Shaoshi will arouse Wei Zhongxian's suspicions, Wei Bao doesn't care now.

In fact, taking a sip of tea, it is not too close.

Ding Shaoshi was very happy when he heard this, but he didn't expect Wei Bao to be in the room without shying away from it.

Ding Shaoshi naturally hopes that Wei Bao can lean on the Donglin Party, he is now alone in the cabinet, and he very much needs a strong reinforcement like Wei Bao.

With Wei Bao's current age, he is too young to enter the cabinet.

But Wei Bao is the son-in-law of the British prince Zhang Weixian, and he is also a celebrity around the emperor, and at the same time straddles the two lines of local powerful factions and Beijing officials, no matter how you look at it, he can be regarded as a very powerful person.

When he arrived at Ding Shaoshi's duty room, Ding Shaoshi diligently made tea for Wei Bao.

Wei Bao smiled and gossiped, as if the two of them knew each other well.

In fact, Ding Shaoshi is usually very arrogant, and Wei Bao has not had much contact with Ding Shaoshi.

The two of them discussed the Tao through tea and chatted about government affairs.

Wei Bao tried to avoid talking about government politics, because Wei Bao didn't understand anything, and he didn't want to talk about it with others.

Therefore, Ding Shaoshi tried his best to lead the way to the government, Wei Bao tried to avoid it, and in the end, the most talked about was tea and Taoism.

Wei Bao is very interested in Taoism.

The Ming Dynasty was also the peak of the prosperity of Taoism.

The fundamental belief of Taoism is "Tao", that is, the indoctrination and preaching of "Tao", and Lao Tzu believes that "Tao" is the "origin of all things" in heaven and earth. Again, "the laws of nature".

And the Tao is virtue in me, so it is stipulated that Taoists should "cultivate morality". It is believed that monasticism can free people from earthly sufferings and troubles forever.

In terms of personal cultivation, Lao Tzu advocated that "the way of a sage, for the sake of not fighting", to achieve "not self-contained", "quiet and inaction", "pure heart and few desires".

There are two ideal realms pursued by Taoism: one is to build an ideal, fair, and peaceful world in real life according to Taoist teachings.

The second is to try to prolong life and become an immortal through personal cultivation. The ideological origins of Taoism also include the ancient worship of ghosts and gods, witchcraft and immortal magic, and the idea of the five elements of yin and yang.

After the establishment of Taoism, it had a significant impact on China's politics, economy, culture, science and technology.

To understand Chinese history and culture, we must understand Taoism and its development history, so Lu Xun said that "China's roots are all in Taoism."

Similarly, to study Chinese tea culture, it is also necessary to study Taoism and its thoughts.

A major difference between the Buddha and the Tao is that Buddhists cultivate the afterlife in the hope of going to the Western Heavenly Elysium after death.

Taoists cultivate this life, hoping for immortality and becoming immortals.

Taoists believe: "My life is in my absence", focusing on the study of alchemy, qigong, medicine, and health preservation, so the famous doctor has many feather guests, and the birthday star is a Taoist.

At the same time, Taoism advocates nature, pursues the unity of nature and man, and seeks harmony between man and nature.

These are closely related to the natural attributes, character and efficacy of tea, so Taoists say that tea is "fairy grass" and "grass in English", so they love tea and love tea.

Taoism has experienced five generations of wars and chaos, and there has been a decline in the scene.

In the Song Dynasty, Taoism was revived, and there were two emphasis on Taoism, the first time was in the Song Zhenzong period, and Zhao Xuanlang, one of the nine emperors, was his ancestor, so "the world has always been full of Taoist images." ”

The 24th generation of Heavenly Master Zhang Zhengsui was given the title of "Mr. Zhenjing".

The second time was in the period of Song Huizong, "both long Taoism, so the capital Buddhist temple is more ruined", Kaifeng temple changed to 69 palaces, monks and nuns changed to scholars, Song Huizong claimed to be the head of the Taoist Emperor, "born to set up Lent, spend tens of thousands of money, called a thousand Taoist meetings." ”

Many scholars also believe in Taoism, and Chao Zhen of the Northern Song Dynasty "is good at breathing out the art of health preservation and interpreting old books." ”

In the course of long-term historical development, many important ideological concepts and teachings in Taoist culture have had a non-negligible impact on the way of thinking, lifestyle, and behavior of the Chinese people.

Taoism's unique way of eating and refining has promoted the discovery, utilization and popularization of tea to the people. Taoist thought and Taoist teachings not only inject vitality and aura into Chinese tea culture, but also are the most direct source of the "Tao" of Chinese tea drinking.

In order to cultivate the Tao and become immortals and live forever, Taoist believers have created cultivation methods such as bigu, spitting, fetal breath, guiding, and taking bait.

In the eyes of ordinary Taoists, since tea is the elixir taken by the heavenly immortals, its effect is extraordinary.

Later, tea, a kind of herbaceous bait, gradually became a daily routine and a hobby in the process of taking it by real Taoists, and gradually spread in society, so tea evolved from a functional medicine to a hobby in people's daily life.

At first, the Taoist bait was mainly taken to take Jinshi pills, but this kind of pills had to be refined through a ding furnace, and the raw materials used were mainly gold, silver, lead, mercury and various ores, which were very expensive and risky to take.

Herb and tree bait is the opposite, although its effect is not as miraculous as that of gold and stone bait, but it can still achieve considerable results in health and life extension.

As the old saying goes, the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit, and the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit.

Bitterly entangled in the chains of fame and fortune, he can't extricate himself. Why?

The worldview and values of traditional Taoism are a good medicine.

First of all, Taoism gives people peace of mind.

In the view of Taoism, the fundamental reason for people's impetuousness and extreme deviation lies in the inability to correctly deal with the gains and losses of life and grasp the scale of desire.

Only by disposing of it can we become "always clear and quiet like the moon, and calmly deal with the world". Therefore, Taoism advocates "pure heart and few desires" and "pampering and humiliation".

As an individual existence in all things, human beings must follow the laws of the operation of things, establish the concept of mutual transformation of blessings and disasters and gains and losses, and do not take joy or sorrow, conform to nature, and not be surprised by honor and disgrace.

Second, Taoism instructs people to view fame and fortune correctly.

Some people pay a lot for fame and fortune in their lives. Some people have indeed achieved success through hard work, but on the other side of success, they have lost a lot of joy in life and even human dignity.

What's more, despite their efforts, the results are not ideal.

In life, you don't have to work hard for fame and fortune, maybe the opportunity is not mature enough, let alone complain. For fame and fortune, he holds the position of "I am fortunate to get it, but I can't kill it" and "it is in people to make things happen, and it is up to heaven to achieve things".

Only those who are open to fame and fortune will have a rich and abundant life.

Again, Taoism makes people more optimistic about life.

Taoism talks about "yin and yang harmony", that is, it believes that everything has positive and negative sides, contradictory phenomena, and there are aspects of mutual integration and unity.

Advocate looking at things and not cling to a blind spot to think about the problem, the so-called "Seong lost the horse, how to know whether it is a blessing", from a large-scale time point of view, anything is good or bad is uncertain.

Whether a person is happy or not has no absolute relationship with wealth, status, and power in essence. Happiness is largely determined by the mind and mentality, and the heart can make heaven or hell.

To be happy, first "open" the heart, jump out of the trap of the heart, drill out and break the "tip of the horns", which will make people feel that life is suddenly open and sky.

Although Wei Bao tried his best to avoid talking about government affairs, Ding Shaoshi still chatted with Wei Bao very happily, but he didn't expect Wei Bao's knowledge to be quite profound.

Ding Shaoshi is the group of people who know best how Wei Bao is on the gold list, although he won't say anything behind his back, but in his bones he looks down on Wei Bao, a person who comes up by crooked ways, who gains power by means of slippery whiskers.

Because scholars like Ding Shaoshi came up step by step through the formal way of scientific examination.

Of course, they also rely on personal connections, but they themselves will not think that they belong to the smugglers, they will only feel that their fate should be like this, and it is their lord who has the ability, and they should be on the throne.

Ding Shaoshi, whose name is far away, was born in 1565 in a scholarly family in Guichi County.

His father's name is Dan, Sui Gong, and the Guanhu Guangheng Prefecture is sentenced.

Legend has it that before he was born, his father dreamed of a white crane flying over his family hall, and soon he croaking out.

When he was young, there were seven black spots on his chest and abdomen, which were as cool as the Big Dipper. Young is different, good at writing, not pretentious, concise.

The character is long and deep, and there is a bearing.

In the twentieth year of Wanli, in 1594, he was selected as a tribute, in the twenty-second year of the Tianxiang examination, in the thirty-fifth year of Wanli, in 1607, at the age of forty-three, he was awarded the Hanlin Academy, and in 1610, he was awarded the Hanlin Academy.

Ding Shaoshi's promotion route was almost exactly the same as Wei Bao's, but Wei Bao was thirty years younger than Ding Shaoshi at the time.

Sometimes, Ding Shaoshi himself will also feel that it is necessary to become an official as soon as possible.

Including Ding Shaoshi, everyone knows that Wei Bao has a bright future.

Even if Wei Bao doesn't rely on anyone from now on, as long as he doesn't make a big mistake, it is almost a sure thing to enter the cabinet at the age of thirty.

After Ding Shaoshi became an official, he first took his mother to live in the capital.

After a short period of time, his mother died of illness, so he took leave to support the coffin and returned to his hometown for burial, and mourned for three years.

After the mourning period expired, he returned to Beijing to take up his original post and was envoyed to canonize the king of Huayang into Chu.

After completing the dispatch mission, he returned to his hometown to visit his parents' grave, and lived in his hometown for two years on the grounds of illness.

He had to be ordered to return to Beijing and receive two years' allowance.

He was then appointed as a living note.

In the forty-sixth year of Wanli, in 1618, the Fujian Township Test.

He then recuperated in Guichi on sick leave for three years.

In the past three years, he carefully read the "Twenty-One History" and thought it would be practical when he was reinstated.

And pay attention to current affairs and figure out national affairs.

In the spring of 1622, in the second year of Xizong's Apocalypse, the imperial court summoned him to return to Beijing to serve, but Shao Shi thanked him for his illness, but he was not allowed.

He was promoted to the palace attendant for three years of the Apocalypse, and was promoted to the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites and the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, and served as a lecturer.

Shao Shi spoke in a loud voice, and every lecture on the history of the scriptures and the "Emperor's Illustrated Narrative" was explained in simple terms, and the emperor was happy to hear it.

One day, Xizong occasionally suffered a minor illness.

Shao Shi because of the "Emperor Jian Illustrated" has an article sent back by the Tang Ming Emperor, in which the pure heart and few desires, the diet is modest, and the number of words is cautious.

Xizong was moved.

Another day, talking about the "broad, wise, long-standing" "book" righteousness, citing the high emperor's affairs as a cooperation, Xizong praised and said, "The ministers enter the speaker, I can't know, only this high nose, pointing to Shao Shi loudly has Mr. Mustache to speak, I can know." ”

In the fifth year of the Apocalypse, in the spring of 1625, the emperor sat in the hall, and the ministers were happy for him.

In August of this year, he was promoted to the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of Tokaku University.

The first assistant is Kunshan Gu Bingqian, and the second assistant is Nanle Wei Guangwei and Zhou Rupan.

Zhou Rupan was in charge of Shao Shi's work in the Ministry of Rites, so Shao Shi was second.

Because of his strong ability and outstanding performance, Shao Shi was promoted to the crown prince Taibao, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and the scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion.

Xizong gave four generations of orders, and Yin Yizi was appointed as a scholar in the middle school, and gave a python silver coin. Shao Shi thanked him, but the emperor did not allow it.

Therefore, Ding Shaoshi also belongs to the people who were promoted quickly, and he was promoted to the Jinshi very late, and in the hands of Zhu Youxiao, the Emperor of the Apocalypse, because he gave lectures to the emperor and had contact with the emperor, he got the opportunity to be promoted quickly.

This point is almost exactly the same as Wei Bao, they all belong to those who have been favored.

Ding Shaoshi thanked the emperor for his grace and expounded his macro theory on how the country should prepare for war and famine, defend against foreign invasions, especially the security of Kyoto.

Shuyun, Jingshi is the foundation of the world, and the safety of the cities in the world is not more important than Jingshi.

In order to make the Beijing division impregnable, it should be a soldier who guards it, a weapon that guards it, and a food and material that it guards, and the grain storage is the first priority for the safety of the Beijing division. In addition to the normal expenditure of this year, the emperor should ask how much savings the grain accumulated in Jingcang today can be, so that he knows in his heart. In case of a war and casualties, the emperor should also inquire about who will pick up and deliver whom, so as to calmly relocate and hand it over.

As for the appointment of civil and military officials, their names should be written on the imperial screen one by one, and each of them should perform their duties. Those who manage weapons should know the details of the weapons; Those who train soldiers and horses should be proficient in strategy and tactics; Those who manage the rations should know the sources and transportation channels of the supplementary rations, and those who manage the gunpowder should ensure that they are safe and foolproof.

Those who have been loyal to their duties for many years should be rewarded and awarded, and those with outstanding work performance should be promoted by leapfrogging; Those who fail to do their duty will be punished without mercy. If this is the case, then the army is all strong, the country is rich, the defense is solid, the battle is invincible, and the situation in Beijing should be stable and safe.

Xizong Dayue, with Shaoshi as his loyalty to the country, praised Ding Shaoshi.