Yue Xiang's words had no beginning or end, and Wang Yining didn't understand what they meant at all. He felt more and more that there were too many things in his old friend in front of him that he couldn't understand.

"How do you know if Donglin will end well?"

"Hmph, the Donglin Party people are too upright, they don't understand the importance of the word sleek, and they are too direct in their speech. It is necessary to know that in this officialdom, you can't do too much, you have to leave some room for the other party, and everyone can do things in harmony, which is the iron law of officialdom from ancient times to the present. Otherwise, if you have offended everyone, who will come to give you your life? Even if you have the ability to reach the sky, you can't use it. The iron law of thousand-year-old officialdom can actually be changed with the power of the Donglin Party? ”

"This is not necessarily, the eldest husband must first correct his own mental skills before he can correct the country. The Donglin Party members demanded the revitalization of the rule of officials, the opening of the way of speech, the elimination of the accumulated evils of the government and the opposition, and the opposition to the corruption and indulgence of the powerful and the corrupt and perverted the law. Even if the criminal and powerful are demoted, they are always worthy of their hearts. Right is right, wrong is wrong, and it's terrible to know that it's wrong but no one points it out. Besides, in this court now, if you don't speak hard and direct, who will take you seriously? ”

"It's right to be a righteous person, but the court makes you an official to let you govern the country well, not to let you run to do a battle of will. The Donglin Party's ideas are good, but the methods are very inappropriate. Claiming to be worthy of his heart, he patted his ass and left the court after scolding others, but the lives of the people in the world did not improve in the slightest, what is the use of this? If you have that time to scold in the court, it is better to go to the local government to be a pro-people official and do some really good things for the people. ”

"Even if it is useless to scold in the court, at least there are still people who dare to admonish. If no one speaks, I don't think we're far from the country. ”

"Daring to admonish does not mean how much courage you have, this is your responsibility, otherwise why would the state give you a fortune? It is important to know that speaking bluntly is not for the sake of admonishment, but for the sake of the people of the world! What is the difference between being in Cambodia for a long time but not being adopted, and not being in Cambodia? ”

"This is naturally different, whether you adopt it or not, and it is not up to me to admonish it. How can this be confused? ”

"Of course it's the same thing, since your proposition is beneficial to the country and the people, you must always find ways to get him to adopt it. The so-called has no time to seek his own life for the country, as long as the people of the world can benefit, what does it matter if he is wronged? Those who pretend to be high always blame others for not taking their own advice, are really people who seek fame and reputation. These people are not the people, but their own reputation. If you want me to say, these people don't deserve to be officials at all! ”

"The great husband was born between heaven and earth, if his heart is not right, how can he be right? There is no principle in being a man, at most he is just a villain. What is the difference between being with those corrupt officials and corrupt officials? ”

"They are for yourself, you are for the people, and that's the biggest difference. Today's scholars and doctors value reputation more than anything else. For the sake of one's own reputation, it is often possible to ignore life and death. It's ridiculous, it's easy for you to die, but it's a pity that no one talks to the people anymore. ”

"If you don't have this kind of backbone, I'm afraid that the whole dynasty will be full of corrupt officials. Dare to scoop up one's life to admonish death, it is precisely because he is willing to die to speak for the people, how can this be said to be disregard for the people? ”

"Ridiculous, what do you say for the people when everyone is dead? If you really care about the people, you must always leave a useful body before you have the opportunity to continue to speak for them. The person who chooses to die directly seems to be brave, but in fact he is cowardly. At that time, Yue Wumu was loyal to the country, and his achievements were high, and his loyalty was known to the world. However, when he recalled the twelve gold medals, he knew that the people of Hebei would suffer as soon as he left, and finally gave up the people in order to show his loyalty. And when Qin Hui framed him on "trumped-up" charges, except for Han Shizhong, who was willing to let him speak out? Nope, right!? Why, it's because I'm usually too unsociable and offend too many people. If he can compromise a little and leave a useful body, it will be difficult to guarantee that there will be no chance of recovering the Central Plains in a few years. As a result, the turmoil pavilion was unjust through the ages, but he only left his eternal name, and the poor people of the Central Plains have been enslaved by Hu Di for hundreds of years, and no one can save them. In that year, Yingzong seized the door and restored, Cao Qinshi enjoyed autocratic power, causing chaos in the imperial court. Li Xian was vain with him, Taoguang kept obscurity, and finally seized the opportunity to destroy the thief party in one fell swoop, and returned the dynasty to a clean and peaceful society, and finally became a generation of celebrities. If he didn't know how to avoid the truth and be false, he would have been killed by the traitorous party long ago, how could he leave his name in history? All this case, the dynasties and dynasties have emerged in endlessly, do you need me to say more? ”

Yue Xiang said a lot in one breath, took a breath and continued: "Besides, what's wrong with the corrupt officials? As long as the corrupt officials do things for the people, what does it matter if they are greedy and greedy? With the thinness of the money that our Ming Dynasty gave to officials, it is a miracle that there are no corrupt officials. There are hundreds of thousands of officials in the world, each with their own ideas, and it is a fool's dream to transform everyone into a clean and honest person like you, as long as they can get by in general. To govern the country, sometimes you have to pretend to be confused, and when the water is clear, there will be no fish, you should understand this truth. ”

Wang Yining was silent, and said for a long time: "It's just that the current world really needs upright people, and it really needs such a righteous spirit." Doing things smoothly is not what a decent man and a gentleman are willing to do after all. The Donglin scholars are all Confucian children who have read poetry and books, and it is difficult for them to compromise like this after all. ”

Yue Xiang sighed secretly, corruption is China's tradition for 5,000 years, and it is an important part of China's officialdom culture, even after a few hundred years, the so-called era of democracy and legal system is sound, corrupt officials are still emerging in endlessly, and even more corrupt, not to mention the current feudal era.

"That's why I said they were going to go down. In these years, the people who can adhere to the beliefs in their hearts are a minority after all, and most of them are laymen, even those who have read Confucius and Mencius are also laypeople, and laypeople have the ideas of laymen, that is, interests. They will only listen to you if they see what is at stake. The Donglin Party couldn't change this law, but it forcibly declared war on the world, so the final outcome was the end. People who don't know how to compromise can't play politics at all. Compromise is sometimes an offense. ”

"This is not necessarily, as long as the Donglin Party can gain the trust of the emperor, no matter how big the resistance is, it is not afraid. By divine decree, what will those worldly people do? ”

"Holy Decree, hmph, I didn't say it, Holy Decree is a bullshit in his own eyes. If the Divine Decree had been tried and tested, there would not have been so many rebels in all dynasties. This trick of bullying and concealing in the officialdom is enough to compile a book, and the holy decree has been passed down to the place through layers of transmission, and I don't know what it means to be misinterpreted. Besides, the holy decree of the person who recognizes the authority of the emperor is only valid for him, and if he does not recognize who the emperor Lao Tzu is, the holy decree is too hard to wipe his ass! ”

"Hehehe, I didn't expect your Yue Ziyi to be able to say such a big truth, who did you listen to, I don't believe you have this kind of goods in your stomach. To be honest, since I saw you again on the mountain, I feel that you have changed, and I can't tell you where exactly. I always feel like it's not the person I used to know. But it seems that this point of your guy has not changed, and you are born a backbone, so you can say such a big rebellion? ”

Wang Yining was stunned for a long time, and suddenly laughed and scolded.

"No matter how rebellious I am, it's better than you going up the hill and falling into the grass. If the Donglin Party knew that you still had this kind of experience, they were afraid that they would have turned you away a long time ago, right? Yue Xiang deliberately relaxed the atmosphere, and also smiled back.

"Hehe, I've listened to you for a long time, and it's really a little crooked, but you misunderstood the relationship between me and the Donglin Party, and I won't worry about whether the Donglin Party collapses or not. It's just that in this dark and white world, there are such a group of people who can still adhere to their own character and beliefs, and still speak for the people, I admire them. As for the future of the Donglin Party, you don't need to divinate here, the Donglin Party has been completely driven out of the imperial court last year, and the current imperial court is controlled by the three parties of Qi Chu Xuan, what you said is very accurate, I think Donglin has no chance to turn over this time. ”

"yes, I don't think so. You underestimate the tenacity of the Donglin Party, as you said, they dare to speak out regardless of their lives, how can this little setback break them? Yue Xiang knew that soon after the defeat of Sahu Xu, as soon as Shenzong returned to heaven, the Red Pill Case and the Palace Removal Case occurred, and the Donglin Party took the opportunity to make a comeback and ousted all three parties from power. Even in the era when the eunuchs were rampant, the Donglin party people never succumbed.

"How can I see it, I see that now the Donglin people have died down and are in a state of collapse. It seems that the fact of failure has been accepted. ”

"Impossible, the current party struggle, no matter how fierce it is, is still just a matter of words and hands, and it can barely be regarded as a gentleman's dispute. And the Donglin Party is the best among gentlemen and doctors, if you talk about the means of gentlemen, who can be stronger than them? As long as you seize the opportunity, you can make a comeback. Qi Chuxuan's three parties are not the real opponents of the Donglin Party at all, and the real deadly threat to Donglin will not come from Shi Dafu. ”

Wang Yining saw that Yue Xiang's appearance was a little strange, and he had doubts in his heart. In his impression, Yue Xiang was not a person who cared so much about the affairs of the world, and his interest was not in this area. I haven't seen each other for a few years, and it's really become different from what I thought.

The reasons for the party struggle in the imperial court are complicated, and it is not the authorities who can say clearly, except for the Beijing officials who participated in the struggle, it is really difficult for the local officials to understand the situation. In fact, even those old fritters in the court may not understand it neatly. What's more, in a remote place like Liaodong, with a lowly identity like Yue Xiang, there is really no reason to come into contact with these things.

"It's not from the doctor, but from where?"

"As I said, it is impossible for a gentleman's way of fighting to really defeat the Donglin Party. Unless you use the way of scoundrel villains to work, don't forget, in addition to the ministers of the foreign court, our Ming Dynasty also has an internal minister......"

"You mean...... Eunuch? ”

"That's right, these eunuchs act without scruples, they don't know the wind and bones, they only understand interests, they don't move their mouths, and once they seize the opportunity to strike at the enemy, they will be killed, which just nailed Donglin's life. In the previous dynasty, there were Wang Zhi, Cao Jixiang, Liu Jin, etc., which is not a moment of power. Now there are still tax supervisors who are openly rampant in various places, like the emperor of the soil, and these people are the real threat to the Donglin Party. ”

"What you said is too unbelievable, today's eunuchs ......"

"If you don't have it now, it doesn't mean you won't have it in the future, as I expected, the Donglin Party will eventually be destroyed in the hands of the eunuchs, you wait and see." Yue Xiang boldly said his "prophecy", but he didn't say Wei Zhongxian's name, and others may not believe it if he says it, and it may bring unnecessary trouble to himself.

"The more you talk about it, the more mysterious it becomes. By the way, what did you just say that the party struggle will eventually bring down the Ming Dynasty, and what is the reason for this? Isn't it good for us to be Ming now? How can it collapse? ”

This kind of thing can't be said to be killed, and if it is spread to people as a fallacy, it will be troublesome. In addition, it is not clear to Wang Yining.

“…… From the three emperors and five emperors in ancient times to the present, which dynasty has not perished? How strong the Tang and Han dynasties were, and when the country fell, the Ming Dynasty was no exception, and sooner or later it would be replaced by others. I think that if the Ming Dynasty is going to collapse, it will collapse on this party struggle, and the vitality of the country will be consumed on internal strife. If it goes on like this, how can it not collapse? ”