Yixing.

Zhou Yanru has been four years since Chongzhen's four-year resignation, although the scenery of the first assistant is no longer there, but the twenty-year official career, and the leader of Donglin, especially in the cabinet for nearly four years, his accumulated net worth can be described as amazing, enough for him to be pampered in his hometown, and live a rich life in paradise. However, Zhou Yanru was only forty when he left the cabinet, it was the heyday of his life, but he suddenly fell from the peak of power, which was inevitably frustrated.

After the death of his wife, Zhou Yanru became more and more depressed, mourning more than his heart died, and he was less interested in everything, and more than a year later, his henchman Wu Zongda also resigned and went home, because Wu was Mrs. Zhou's uncle, so the two were very close. Dong Tingxian, the doorman, attracted several famous purple sand pots for him, Zhou Jishan, Chen Tingsheng and other sand makers brought pots into the house, Zhou Yanru saw it, was very surprised, and indulged in it, and learned pot-making skills with these craftsmen all day long.

Yixing purple sand originated in the Song Dynasty, since the Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty, since the beginning of the Jinsha Temple, the famous family has come out in large numbers, Zhou Yanru saw that the pot made by these famous hands is varied, the pattern is wonderful, and the people are ordered to trace it into a picture, and it is engraved and handed down. He also ordered the clever house slaves in the house to follow them to make pots, and he went to check them from time to time, just like an ordinary rich man.

After receiving a letter from Qian Qianyi in Beijing, Zhang Pu set off for Yixing in person after hesitating to talk about the major event of Donglin and the restoration of the society. After arriving at the Zhou Mansion to see Zhou Yanru, Zhang Pu hurriedly stepped forward to pay a big salute to meet him, Zhou Yanru took his hand and sat down, a little boy offered tea, Zhou Yanru took a bite of tea, and asked: "Tianru, you came in person on this cold day, but what is the matter?" ”

Zhang Pu glanced at Xiao Tong, Zhou Yanru shook his head in his heart, waved his hand and ordered Xiao Tong to retreat, laughing at himself: "I am a long-lost person, what else is there to talk about, you are mysterious." ”

"The teacher is so comfortable and comfortable." Zhang Pu heard him guess his intentions, but there was some self-pity in his words, thinking about where to start.

"It's light to be unofficial!" Zhou Yanru took out a volume of manuscripts from his sleeve, handed it to Zhang Pu and said, "Look at how this manuscript is written?" There is a student in Jiangyin who heard that I was fascinated by purple sand, and brought a manuscript and asked me to write a preface, but I haven't finished reading it! ”

Zhang Pu took it and flipped through it, and saw that the cover page was inscribed with a few words "Yangxian Tea Pot System", and he was meticulous, and it was clear that he had put a lot of effort into it, and slowly put the manuscript on the table, and arched his hand: "Teacher, forgive the student for being reckless, Sage Yun: The gentleman is not a weapon, the teacher is prosperous in the spring and autumn, and his life's career is incomparably purple sand?" The teacher once held a high position, and he was respected by the world, but he was willing to travel with those craftsmen and lowly laborers, and he was in the company of everyone, and the students were really sad and sighed for the teacher. ”

Zhou Yanru said with a smile: "Tianru, there is a lot of fun in this, you just haven't understood it yet." ”

"Leisurely, it seems that it is difficult to talk to students!" Zhang Pu said with a smile: "Teacher, do you know that the capital of Ludao has been promoted recently, and it is very lively?" ”

"It's been a long time since I've asked about mundane things. Tianru, eat tea, this tea tree is planted by my own hands, the tea leaves are picked by my own hands, what is the smell? ”

"Sure enough, the teacher is really talented, and he has a line of experience in doing a line, and one law is all the same."

"Hahaha...... Now that I'm a farmer in the countryside, I have to pretend! Zhou Yanru laughed a few times, suddenly smiled, and said: "The excitement of the capital is also someone else's, and it has nothing to do with me. ”

"That's a joke. The teacher is good and right, and there is no two for a while, and the student has a ready-made pair, and the teacher can be right? ”

"Tell me about it."

"There is a man in Beifu who wrote a couplet on the back of the test paper, which is popular in Beijing and has become a joke on the streets. Shanglian is: The Ministry of Rites reopened the heavenly list, and the champion explored the flower list, and was a little panicked. The so-called 'panic' is the homonym of 'Huang Kong', Huang is Huang Shijun, Kong is Kong Zhenyun, the two happened by chance, and they actually went to high school. Can the teacher think of the next link? ”

Zhou Yanru shook his head and said: "I can't think of it, these couplets are specialized, and they must be said to have something, and it is impossible to work hard only from words." ”

"The next link is the most exciting: the cabinet is turned into a brothel, and the turtle king is always plagued. The turtle king has eight pieces of slices, and he always suffers from plague. 'Turtle' is homophonic to 'Wugui', alluding to Wen Tiren, a native of Gui'an County, Wucheng, Huzhou; 'Wang Ba' is homophonic to 'Wang Ba', alluding to Wang Yingxiong, a minister from Ba County, Sichuan; 'Chipping' alludes to Wu Zongda, a cabinet minister who flatters Wen Tiren and has no opinions; 'Always suffering from plague', it means that the emperor has been deceived by Wen Tiren. Illustrious cabinet scholars, contemptible to such a degree, is it a blessing for the imperial court? ”

Zhou Yanru touched his slender beard and said: "This couplet is scolded with pleasure, but it is not a scholar's opinion. In terms of his talents, Wen Tiren is indeed not comparable to mediocre people, nor is it beyond the reach of outsiders. He saw that Zhang Pu had a suspicious look on his face, and then said: "I have worked with Wen Tiren for many years, and his talent is indeed beyond everyone. First, he is shrewd and capable, good at scheming, whenever the cabinet drafts an edict on behalf of the emperor, every time he encounters criminal names, money and food and other specialized knowledge, there are many names, and the clues are confused, and other cabinet members often have sad faces, but Wen Tiren knows it at a glance, and there is no mistake, I admire his sensitive practice.

Second, he did a good job of superficial articles, but he did not leak. After he entered the cabinet, he was honest and prudent, and he never started bribery. To be sure, I don't have his strengths. Third, he worked hard to manage, and the cabinet colleagues he introduced were all mediocre and indiscriminate, which made him stand out from the crowd. Fourth, Wen Tiren is good at figuring out the emperor's intentions and has skills in meeting them. It's all very human. ”

"Rao is his old treacherous and slippery, and finally let the emperor see through, I heard about the holy decree, when he went out of Beijing, he only had a few protégés, and the situation was very embarrassing." Zhang Pu observed Zhou Yanru's expression as he spoke.

Zhou Yanru's face trembled slightly, he was immersed in the memories of the past, that year he made a big mistake because of Denglai Sun Yuanhua and Fu Kong Youde, Wen Tiren took advantage of the danger of people, fell into the well, and finally fell out of favor and resigned, he was really too trusted, he didn't see through his wolf ambition as soon as possible, and couldn't help gritting his teeth and said: "This is his retribution!" Wen Tiren seems to be a loyal elder, but in fact he is narrow-minded, and he will repay him, and he is the most intolerant. He thinks he is good at dancing with long sleeves, but in fact, he has too many enemies, just like a dam holding back water, and sooner or later it will collapse. ”

Zhang Pu knew what he knew when he heard this, and hurriedly took the opportunity to probe: "As soon as the old thief Wen leaves, the teacher has fewer strong rivals, and it is just time to make a comeback." ”

Zhou Yanru waved his hand and said: "I don't do these fantasies anymore, what haven't I experienced about the fame and fortune that the world is chasing?" Reading and scientific examination, won the champion, Lu Ming banquet sat in the chief, and later entered the cabinet to participate in the secret, a year's work, promoted to the first place, what a glory! Once in the sea, it's just like this again, what's the point? It's better to lie down on the quilt, smell the aroma of steamed new rice, and play with the purple clay pot! When I was young, I read "Three Kingdoms", and saw Liu Chan say that he was happy and didn't think about it, and secretly laughed at him for his lack of ambition. ”

Zhang Pu had heard that Zhou Yanru had a new concubine, a young and beautiful widow. Less than a year after her husband died, she couldn't bear the loneliness of the spring boudoir and made an appointment to elope with someone. The man hired a sedan chair to welcome his relatives, and passed by the door, and the widow pretended to be married, went out and sat in the sedan chair, and walked away. The widow's mother-in-law was shocked and went to sue the official, the widow was afraid of being arrested by the yamen, so she threw herself into the Zhou Mansion overnight, Zhou Yanru died of her wife, and when she was lonely, she coveted her beauty and accepted her as a concubine.

Thinking of this, Zhang Pu smiled slightly and said: "The most heroic thing in the gentle township is to consume heroes, and it seems that the teacher is not exempt from vulgarity. He took out a red slip from his sleeve and gently placed it on the table.

Zhou Yanru pinched it and looked at it, couldn't help but be furious, and scolded: "That widow voluntarily stayed in my mansion, what's wrong, what is the government doing in this troubled water for no reason?" The management is very lenient, and a small Taoist platform does not know how to avoid it, and says such stupid words by name on Zhu Dan. I poured into my house and waited with the door wide open to see how bold he was to come and arrest someone! ”

Zhang Pu secretly laughed, knowing that the Dao touched his sore spot, and said: "The teacher doesn't have to be angry, if this matter alarms the government, no matter which family the woman breaks off, spreading the word will also tarnish the teacher's reputation." How noble is the identity of a teacher, and in the end, he will show up in court? Such trivial matters are still left to the disciples. "I took Zhu Dan, tore a few handfuls to pieces, and threw them on the ground.

"You, how dare you tear Zhu Dan apart?" Zhou Yanru was stunned.

Zhang Pu said indifferently: "It doesn't matter, that Zhang Daotai is a disciple's protégé, and he is also a member of the Restoration Society." The disciple went to the yamen on the way, and just in time for the widow's mother-in-law to come to the yamen to make a noise, he had no choice but to open a zhu order and show me and bring it. It's just a trivial matter, don't mind, it's just that if the teacher indulges in the tenderness of his children and is bedridden, there will be a big disaster in the future, and the students are afraid that they will not be able to help. The teacher is in his prime, and it is reasonable to be feared, and the ministers are uneasy about their position because of the presence of the teacher, for fear of being replaced, if someone is like the old thief Wen who framed Qian Muzhai, he will want to put him to death and hurry up, how can the teacher deal with it? ”

Zhou Yanru was startled, frowned for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!" I listen to you, as long as there is the emperor's will, I will never refuse. ”

"The students are raising money to unblock the joints."

"How much do you need? I have silver here. "Zhou Yanru has silver, if the silver can buy the position of the first assistant, he doesn't care about moving out of the city, anyway, as long as he becomes the first assistant, the silver will not come back in a blink of an eye.

Zhang Pu was busy saying: "Don't do it, the teacher is a big fan, and I don't know how many eyes are staring at it in the world!" If you give Dongchang and Jinyiwei detection, it will help you. The students had persuaded a few like-minded people to come out with some silver, and Mr. Mu Zhai, Laizhi, and Meicun raised 30,000 taels, and Feng Quan, Hou Sui, and Ruan Dacheng also contributed 10,000 taels each. ”

"Tianru, you dare to use the silver of Feng and Ruan, this is where the Fushe is higher than the Donglin Party. The Donglin Party said that it was for Wei Zhongxian, but in fact, it was a loss in the view of the portal! Zhou Yanru said with some emotion.

Zhang Pu nodded and said: "It can be used by me, but the student can't ask for it, how can he refuse?" Now he has scraped together 60,000 taels of silver and is ready to go north to Beijing. It's just that the Central Plains is making trouble recently, and Jianghuai is not very peaceful, and the road is not peaceful, so it will take a few days. ”

"Internal and external troubles are eventful!" Zhou Yanru shook his head and sighed, he had always been angry about being squeezed out by Wen Tiren, he had no chance before, but now that Wen Tiren was dismissed, and there were so many people supporting him, his calmed heart suddenly became hot again

During Wen Tiren's four-year first assistant, he suppressed the Donglin Party a lot, the reason is that although he was the first assistant, the important positions in the DPRK and the central government were all Donglin Party members, and the orders of the cabinet could not be effectively implemented by the six ministries, which made Wen Tiren, who wanted to do things, feel that if he wanted to really make a difference, he must crack down on the Donglin Party. Cao Huachun of Dongchang went to Gusu to rectify the Restoration Society, and it was also because Wen Tiren played a copy of the Restoration Society in front of the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven decided to let Cao Huachun go to Jiangnan to investigate and rectify the Restoration Society, so as not to revert to the Restoration Society after Donglin.

Wen Tiren was afraid that Zhang Pu, who had retreated to his hometown of Taicang, would "govern the government remotely" like Li Sancai of Donglin back then, so he sent his cronies to Suzhou Prefecture to serve as magistrates to collect evidence nearby, so as to bring down Zhang Pu and the restoration of the society. As a result, in the past few years, there has been an endless stream of performances from Jiangnan to Jingshi's attack on the Fushe. Wen's confidant Lu Wensheng had a holiday with Zhang Cai, and after serving as the prefect of Suzhou, he began to crack down on the Fushe. He wrote a note on the impeachment of the Restoration Society, and Wen Tiren wrote a sternly worded edict with a red pen: "The Taicang Restoration Society has formed a party and acted arbitrarily, what is the matter of mentioning the duties of the scholars? To the scholars Xi arrogant so! ”

Yu Shi Zhou Zhikui impeached the Restoration Society for disordering the rules and regulations of the Cao Movement, forming a group of friends, and defying the holy decree. Wen Tiren wrote murderously at the end of the song that the emperor immediately cheered up the court, broke the situation of forming a party, arrested Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai, and confronted the ministers face to face. If what the minister said is true, beg Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai to be executed to thank the court; At the same time, the ministers were executed to thank the pun party.

There was a person named Xu Huaidan who wrote an article denouncing the Restoration Society, accusing Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai of "messing up the masses and shaking the country", and listed the ten major crimes: impersonating the king, falsely claiming to be a saint, inciting friends, obstructing the power of the virtuous, summoning bandits, violating morals, slandering and arrogance, degrading conduct, stealing positions, and summoning criminals to cause disasters. This sparseness, under the deliberate impetus of Wen Tiren, brought tremendous pressure to the resumption of society.

The Fushe is actually a derivative of Donglin, and its roots are rooted in Donglin, so the Fushe is in trouble is the Donglin is in difficulty, so the officials of the Donglin Party in the court spared no effort to attack Wen Tiren, and did not hesitate to make a fuss at the court meeting of Chongzhen for five years, so angry that the young Son of Heaven forced Zhou Yanru, who was lurking in Beijing, to return to his hometown, completely cutting off the possibility that the Donglin Party hoped to overthrow Wen Tiren and restore Zhou Yanru. But even so, Wen Tiren's life is still not good, there are too many officials in the Donglin Party, there are ten hundred Zhou Yanru left, as long as Donglin does not fall for a day, his first assistant is not a real first assistant for a day.

Wen Tiren finally stepped down, on the surface because Cao Huachun detected that Zhang Hanru's case was instigated by Wen Tiren, but in fact, it was because of the problem of the rampant rogues. The burning of the Fengyang Emperor's Mausoleum was the last straw that crushed Wen Tiren, and Chongzhen could no longer bear the impotence of his Shoufu against the Liukou. Speaking of which, he also intended to win over Shi Dayong's Jinzhou army with Cao Huachun, and for this reason, he secretly competed with Zhou Yanru and Gao Qi, but who knew that Shi Dayong was really not a sensible person, and he did so many bold things. In the past few years, Wen Tiren has been desperately pressing the imperial historians to impeach Shi Dayong, and he has tried not to mention Shi Dayong and his Liaodong Army in front of the Son of Heaven, and even the Jinzhou Victory, Denglai Counterinsurgency, Liaonan Victory, and Shenyang Victory This series of meritorious deeds made by Shi Dayong will not be awarded, in order to dilute Shi Dayong's influence in the court, so as not to embarrass the court and the Son of Heaven. But the more this is the case, the more incompetent he becomes, the dignified head and assistant can't even solve it with a martial artist with soldiers, can the emperor see that he is satisfied? If he Wen Tiren has a way to let Shi Dayong obediently enter Beijing, it will not matter if the Donglin Party impeached him 10,000 times. Finally, Hou Sui of the Donglin Party didn't know which tendon was wrong and took the initiative to intercede for Shi Dayong, and also said that the Liaodong Army was mobilized to the Central Plains to suppress the Kou, which was a good thing, but it was not right to think about it carefully, since the Donglin Party can say that Shi Dayong led the troops to suppress the Kou, then what do you do with this first assistant? When Wen Tiren woke up, things could not be stopped.

In fact, Wen Tiren is really unlucky, he is extremely incorruptible, the only original Shiheng's house is still under the emperor's instructions, in addition, there is no surplus wealth, compared to Zhou Yanru for the first assistant for four years to accumulate amazing property, Wen, the first assistant is really the most incorruptible prime minister since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Wen also wants to do things, but his lack of party makes him only have a few cronies to help, and in the face of Manchao Donglin's dragging, what can he do. It is only that a commercial tax increase has been proposed six times in four years, but none of them have been able to pass the court. Daming is an internal and external trouble, but his warm body is not an internal and external trouble

After Wen Tiren dismissed the prime minister, Wu Changshi immediately wrote to Zhang Pu, persuading him to encourage Zhou Yanru to make a comeback. His letter arrived after Qian Qianyi, only two days apart. In the letter, he said that Qian Qianyi, a righteous gentleman, was slandered and dismissed, and Wen Zhenmeng was excluded within three months of entering the cabinet, resulting in the continuous persecution of the southeastern gentleman, and the comeback of Zhou Yanru was not enough to eliminate the disaster. Wu Changshi also revealed in the letter that he had befriended Cao Huachun, the eunuch of Dongchang, and hooked up with Wang Dehua, and was sparing no effort to pave the way for Zhou Yanru's comeback. In addition, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces, and Lu Xiangsheng, the prime minister of the five provinces, all expressed their support for Zhou Yanru's comeback, and Hou Sui, who supervised the Liaodong Army, even contributed money and people, as long as Zhou Yanru was willing, there was almost no obstacle to his comeback.

On February 17, under the operation of the officials of the Donglin Party, Chongzhen held a court meeting on the platform and ordered the courtiers to promote a new head and assistant, but under the leadership of the Donglin Party, although the cabinet ministers promoted by the court were both internal and external, none of them satisfied Chongzhen. In the case that the emperor was not satisfied with the candidate, so the Donglin Party began to nominate the real candidate Zhou Yanru, Chongzhen did not agree on the spot, as long as the courtiers elected the two to be right.

When Zhang Pu and Wu Changshi were Zhou Yanru's multi-party activities, Zhuozhou Feng Quan, Hou Sui, who was still in the Henan Liaodong Army, and Ruan Dacheng of Tongcheng contributed respectively to raise 60,000 taels of silver and open up the joints.

Under the unanimous "call" of the inner court and the outer court, on the 20th, Chongzhen issued an order to summon former scholars Zhou Yanru, Zhang Zhifa, and He Fengsheng to enter the court. On the night when Zhou Yanru received the holy decree at home, he suddenly dreamed that his wife Wu, who had been dead for ten years, tried his best to dissuade him from going out of the mountain again, and he would be suspicious. Zhou Yanru went with him and saw an old monk with a rope tied around his head and neck, and woke up in shock. This dream led him to believe that the future was ominous and that he was afraid to go to work.

Zhou Yanru entered Beijing in early March, and his new official titles were young master and prince prince, official department scholar, and scholar of the Middle Pole Palace. When he made the first pilgrimage to the Son of Heaven, Zhou Yanru confidently stated the policy program, and he was right. The pressing tasks at the moment are: Reducing or exempting the peasants' arrears of grain and white grain, reducing or exempting the taxes in arrears of the people over the years, reducing or exempting this year's land taxes in all areas that have suffered from war and famine, pardoning those who have been convicted of exile, and recalling officials who have been dismissed from their posts because of their advice.

Chongzhen was very satisfied with what he heard, and immediately approved them one by one, and gave him a banquet to wash the dust. After Zhou Yanru said goodbye, Chongzhen suddenly turned around and said to Wang Chengen on the side, "He still does it!" The implication is that in addition to Zhou Yanru, Chongzhen can no longer find a more suitable candidate for the first assistant of the cabinet.

On the first day of Zhou Yanru's reinstatement as the first assistant, the first letter he received was that the governor of Henan impeached Shi Dayong, the chief soldier of Lushun, for letting go of the rogues and not suppressing them, opposing the arsonists and plundering, indiscriminately killing the people, and killing the good and risking the merits.