At the beginning of the twelfth winter month of Yongli, Huishan in Wuxi County, Changzhou Prefecture, held the last poetry meeting of the year for the Yunmen Society formed by local scholars. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Wuxi is the location of Donglin Academy, but also the base camp of the Donglin Party, the scholars here in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, not the Donglin Party, or the descendants of the Donglin Party, so the Cloud Gate Society, the scholars here are inextricably linked with the Donglin Party, and even the founder of the Cloud Gate Society is the descendant of Gu Xiancheng, the founder of the Donglin Party.

"The Han family is heavy on the two capitals, and the dragon is really strong.

The yellow house cuts the clouds and is shuangque, and the Zhumen waits for Chen all night.

Swinging the peach leaves to welcome the sleeves, inviting the flute plum blossom near the eyebrow platform.

Mo Dao Jiangdong is a battlefield in Africa, and Xu Chang will be negative and talented. ”

On the poetry meeting, Gu Zhenguan, the founder of the Cloud Gate Society and the fourth grandson of Gu Xiancheng, drank a glass of water and wine, savoring the old works of the young scholar in front of him.

"Ji Zi's "Jinling", although it is an old work of the Chongzhen Dynasty, the crisis of the prosperous era is clear, and every time the foolish brother reads it, he is all admired."

Gu Zhenguan bowed, and Wu Zhaoqian, a talented man from Wujiang who called himself Jizi, also calmly returned the salute. Wu Zhaoqian was born in a family of eunuchs, and his ancestors had done the book of the Criminal Department, and since then, all dynasties have been officials in the court and in the local government, although they are not as famous as Gu Zhenguan's ancestors, but they are also a big family in Suzhou.

Wu Zhaoqian was once a predecessor, and Wu Weiye was known as the three phoenixes of Jiangzuo together with Huating Peng Shidu and Yixing Chen Weisong, and regarded them as the rising stars of the Jiangnan literary circle. And Gu Zhenguan is also quite famous, in the history of the Kangxi period, once with Nalan Xingde, Cao Zhenji shared the reputation of "Jinghua Three Uniques", is a famous lyricist in the early Qing Dynasty.

Gu Zhenguan had joined the Shen Jiao Club of Wu Zhaoqian's brothers' main alliance when he was a teenager, and the two had been friends for many years.

"Yuanping is too famous, this work is the feeling of traveling to Chu with my father. There is a way to read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles, with the talent of Yuanping, if you also have this experience, what you do will be a hundred times better than the foolish brother. ”

As soon as the words fell, the two laughed, and then sat next to each other, listening to the new and old works of other scholars, and commenting on one or two from time to time, but more of them still chatted about things that interested each other.

"Looking at Jizi's work, I have a plan to enter the office, I don't know if I plan to enter the civil official training class of the Qi Palace, or wait for the world to be decided, and the imperial court will reopen the imperial examination?"

Learning literature and martial arts, goods and the emperor's family, this is the only way for scholars to advance since ancient times. Wu Zhaoqian is quite famous, is a rising star in the Jiangnan literary circle, his uncle Wu Yi Wu Risheng also rose up to resist the Qing Dynasty, the subordinate Qian Yingkui and Yu Shizhong's only son are in the army, and the Qi Wangfu can also talk, if you enter the civil official training class, after coming out with the King of Qi, it is also an unlimited future.

However, when Wu Zhaoqian heard this, he shook his head, and then said to Gu Zhenguan: "Don't hide it from the virtuous brother, the foolish brother does have plans to enter the office, but it is not at this time. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

Gu Zhenguan asked, Wu Zhaoqian glanced at the scholars around him without a trace, and seemed to be still immersed in the new work of the scholar just now. Seeing this, he lowered his voice and said to Gu Zhenguan: "A few months ago, Brother Yu visited Qian Shuai, Qian Shuai was valued by his uncle back then, and he also mentioned it to Brother Yu this time, saying that His Royal Highness King Qi has a plan to change the dynasty, so that my family can see the style clearly and then make plans." ”

Wu Zhaoqian's meaning is obvious, since his family has this relationship, they are not in a hurry for a while -- rather than have a reputation for being disloyal to the Ming court when the dynasty is changed, it is better to wait until the world is settled before making a decision, and it is simple to be a minister of the new dynasty. Besides, whether King Qi can succeed or not is also a matter of two words, and he doesn't plan to press all his career and reputation too early.

But as soon as these words came out, Gu Zhenguan was even taken aback, and when he saw that he was alarmed, he paid a salute and sat down again, but his voice was even a few points lower than Wu Zhaoqian.

"Is this true?"

"It's true, that's what Qian Shuai said to Brother Fool, so Brother Fool is here to inform Brother Xian."

The matter mentioned by Wu Zhaoqian is a very important matter. Gu Zhenguan was still young, but after hearing it, he didn't jump up to affirm or deny it, but sat there and thought about it.

When Chen Wen recovered Nanjing, he specially invited Qian Qianyi to Xingyuan for a reunion. In the past few years, Qian Qianyi's funding of Chen Wen and the matter of risking his life to collect intelligence have also been circulated in the circle of Jiangnan scholars, and the newspapers in Jiangnan have also praised Qian Qianyi's righteous deeds, and even Chen Wen has to visit Qianfu every time he comes to Suzhou.

Because of this, Jiangnan scholars are rumoring that Qian Qianyi is about to enter the cabinet when he is old, and even in the official mansion, it has been rumored that Chen Wen mentioned that he wanted to recommend Qian Qianyi to the Son of Heaven to enter the cabinet. But it's been three years, but Qian Qianyi is still reciting poems at home, not to mention entering the cabinet, and the government affairs of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have never interjected.

Originally, they thought that Chen Wen was ungrateful, or Qian Qianyi was unwilling to show up for Chen Wen in the court, so he couldn't get a recommendation, but now it seems that Chen Wen is ready to leave this literary leader to his new dynasty, rather than the old generation of the former Ming Dynasty.

In this, there are too many things to calculate, although Gu Zhenguan has a family history, he can't think of a reason. With this incident, the poetry club became boring, but when he was thinking about whether to return home as soon as possible and tell the elders in the family about it, the words of a scholar directly stirred up a thousand waves in his heart, which had long been unable to calm down.

"On the way down, I got the news that His Royal Highness King Qi reprimanded the officials of Susong Changzhen at the joint meeting, which was caused by the lack of Qingzhang fields. With the temper of His Royal Highness King Qi, I am afraid that this matter will be intensified. ”

Appreciating poems, vassalage and elegance, is an indispensable program for scholars to gather. However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the association was indispensable for commenting on current affairs like Donglin Academy, and it was even often the highlight of it, Gu Zhenguan was the fourth grandson of Gu Xiancheng, and the Yunmen Society he founded was also indispensable. However, the things mentioned by this person were like thunder in the ears of Wu and Gu, who were still exchanging things about Jin Shi and Chen Wen just now.

"This hasn't changed the dynasty yet, it's going to kill the gentry, isn't this Huang Chao and Li Chuang appearing today?!"

Gu Zhenguan was furious, and even though he shocked everyone present, Wu Zhaoqian looked at his friend in disbelief, swallowed his saliva, and then whispered to him: "Yuanping, be cautious." ”

"What is there to be cautious about? Did Ji Zi think that there would be people here who would tell Na Wufu? Besides, when he entered the court to eliminate the evil spirit, the comments in the opposition were real-time, and Donglin's predecessors were all like this, so why should we be afraid of him as a martial artist? ”

As the fourth grandson of Gu Xiancheng, Gu Zhenguan has always flaunted himself with Donglin's stamina. Historically, the Manchu Qing Dynasty created a series of major cases in Jiangnan, such as "Tonghai", "History of the Ming Dynasty", and "Crying Temple", wantonly slaughtered the gentry in Jiangnan, and killed a corpse mountain and a sea of blood before he was scared to be honest, and he became a minister in the Qing court. At this moment, these big cases are unlikely to appear, even the last madness of Ji'er Harang and Ma Guozhu was quickly retaliated against by Chen Wen, and Gu Zhenguan jumped out like Gu Xiancheng possessed.

Gu Zhenguan vented this, but Wu Zhaoqian's face was flushed, and his shame and indignation were overflowing. Seeing this, Wu Zhaoqian brushed his sleeves away, and didn't even bother to say goodbye.

Wu Zhaoqian left, apparently to return to his hometown to deal with the matter. Although the gentry present were all applauding Gu Zhenguan, all of them were all playing with Xiao Jiujiu in their hearts.

The power of the gentry in Susong Changzhen is strong, and it is the best in the land of China. At that time, Wei Zhongxian was powerful and powerful, known as 9,000 years old, and there were many people in the world who were attached to the party and eunuchs. At that time, Wei Zhongxian killed Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others in the court, such as looking at the pattern, but when the eunuch party arrived in Suzhou, he took a Zhou Shunchang, and the governor and Dongchang Fanzi could only end up bleeding, and the five-person tomb outside the gate is a clear proof of that history!

Although Changzhou is not Suzhou, but it is the nest of the Donglin Party, the location of the Donglin Academy, the gentry have a great resistance to the Qingzhang fields, there is no one in the gentry family who has not participated in the boycott, and there is no one who has not benefited from it, since Chen Wen's eyes have re-noticed them, they naturally have to calculate the benefits and harms.

"Yuanping, it's better to ask Mu Weng about this matter, he and King Qi are old friends, and King Qi can always give some thin noodles."

Trembling words, without waiting for others to react, Gu Zhenguan shouted loudly: "Qian Qianyi's old puppet is now just a lackey raised by the Qi Palace, in the tenth year of Yongli, the Qi Palace's order to implement the Zhejiang New Deal in Jiangnan, even if Qian Qianyi invited the government to give them the Qian family's clear fields, and even let his relatives, old people and students do the same, how can such a weak person be trusted?" ”

Seeing that some people in the club were retreating, Gu Zhenguan was like a rainbow, and immediately cited the old incident of Suzhou's boycott of the eunuch party to talk about it, and used this incident to boost morale, and did not forget to encourage each other with small words. At first glance, it is no longer as simple as Gu Xiancheng, but it has a bit of Yang Lian's demeanor.

"The sound of the wind and the rain, the sound of reading, the sound is in the ears; Family affairs, national affairs, world affairs, everything is concerned. When the great-grandfather of the family was rebuilding Donglin Academy, he personally wrote this couplet, in order to encourage scholars to participate in state affairs and not to let evil get their way. This time, the warriors of the Qi Wangfu are in chaos, and we as scholars will not come out to resist, so who can hope for the small people of Shengdou, and who will uphold justice in the world? ! ”

After a period of encouragement, the participating gentry also shouted and echoed, and for a while, there was a bit of momentum in this Huishan Mountain.

Chen Wen reprimanded the officials, he must have stepped up his efforts, and after discussing it, everyone quickly dispersed, colluding with as many gentry as possible to come out to boycott. The incident in Suzhou told them that there is great power in numbers, and even Wei Zhongxian had to admit that there was nothing wrong with this truth.

Scholars, at this time in the late Ming Dynasty, studying is to be an official, it doesn't matter who is the emperor, even if Yidi steals Huaxia It doesn't matter to many scholars, but if anyone dares to touch their interests, even if it is illegal interests, they must do their best to compete with them.

Gu Zhenguan knew very well what these scholars were thinking, and his morale was boosted here, and he hurried home in high spirits, on the one hand, he told the elders in the family about the things mentioned by Wu Zhaoqian, and on the other hand, he wanted to talk about the fact that Chen Wen was about to increase his efforts to clear the acres of land, especially his performance in it, and he had to write a special book.

However, when he returned home, he told him all the ins and outs of the matter, but what he received was not the praise of the elders, but his father Gu Shu directly rewarded him with a resounding slap after listening to this wild talk.

"You rebel, what kind of person is the King of Qi, the hundreds of thousands of tigers under his command, it is still a troubled time, and the sword handle of the martial artist is the truth, and if it is really as Wu Zhaoqian said, the King of Qi intends to get involved in the supreme position, then it is the future heavenly family. How does your father teach you on weekdays, don't be strong, the rafters rot first, you just don't listen, and now the whole family will be affected by you. ”

Gu Shu is the grandson of Gu Xiancheng, who studied in the early years of Gao Panlong, another leader of the Donglin Party, and was ambitious as a young man, and was promoted at the age of nineteen, known as Jingkui, but after that, he would try to "fail in the eight tests", suffered repeated setbacks, and his temperament tended to be more conservative and weak.

Gu Shu is just a man for life, unlike his grandfather and father, who are both jinshi, and enter the court as an official, the preferential exemption that he can enjoy is far inferior to that of his elders, although there is public land in the clan, but more still rely on tax avoidance to ensure the luxury of the family.

This is the most common phenomenon among the gentry, and according to the court, there are not many preferential treatments, but they can't help but be relieved. Scholars used the amount of preferential exemption to accept contributions and conceal their land properties, so as to achieve unlimited tax exemption with limited preferential exemptions, and the number of acres of land recorded in the Ming Dynasty became less and less, and most of them disappeared in this way.

The Gu family was not very wealthy when Gu Zhenguan was the fifth ancestor, but his fifth ancestor had four sons, two of whom were admitted to the Jinshi and became officials in the court, one of which was Gu Xiancheng, and when he got his life, the Gu family had become a big family in Wuxi, otherwise later, with his ministers who were talking about words and his personal relationship with Nalan Xingde, he could encourage the power of Xiangzhu to open his eyes and rescue Wu Zhaoqian, who was involved in the Ding Youke field case and was assigned to Ningguta, was nothing more than the Gu family and the Wu family's money in place.

There is a way that good money is hard to give up, and Gu Shu's anger is not that Gu Zhenguan instigated a boycott of Qingzhang Tianmu, but that he took the initiative to provoke the head and put the Gu family on the opposite side of Chen Wen.

Against Chen Wen, although Gu Shu is the leader of Donglin, he is also a little afraid because of his temperament. However, if the Gu family retreated, their reputation in Shilin would be completely ruined.

"You rebel, this is to roast our Gu family on the fire."

Having said that, Gu Shu also had to wipe his ass for the recklessness of his youngest and most favored son, and at this moment he had to rush to the clan with Gu Zhenguan to discuss countermeasures. Fortunately, resisting the government's decrees is the craft of the Jiangnan gentry for many years, and it can be said that they are proficient, and the difference is nothing more than how to calm things down.

The Gu family has been below Gu Xiancheng's generation, and although they have played roles like Gu Gao, most of them still maintain a relatively low profile. It's just that the interests of Confucian scholars and doctors are involved here, and they have to work together to resist the "martial chaos of the Qi Palace".

After obtaining Chen Wen's intention to vigorously promote the work of clearing the acres of fields, the gentry of Susongchang Town launched the most intensive series, that is, some of the gentry who had completed the clearing of the acres of fields were also forced to go out of the mountains to fight against the strong enemy with them because of the old rhetoric of their relatives and friends.

It's just that the strength of this time is far greater than they imagined, Chen Wen's will is unshakable, and the civil officials under the Qi Palace's mansion are all looking forward to these hidden fields being able to start paying taxes again, so that their political achievements will be better.

"This time, the Fu army is in Suzhou, the official is in Changzhou, Zhenjiang and Songjiang also have big officials, and His Royal Highness the King of Qi is watching me in Nanjing. Starting tomorrow, clear the acres of fields. The work was successfully completed, and all the officials and garrisons involved were rewarded. ”