Qiu Yizhi of Qixia Temple has been arriving almost every day these days. The guards and monks in the temple are all very familiar with him. Seeing that he came in a hurry today, they let him in without stopping him and ran to the hall where Zheng Xin was staying. In the Zen room.
Qiu Yizhi announced outside the door, opened the door and entered the Zen room. As expected, he saw Zheng Xin sitting upright in the room, holding a letter and reading.
When he saw Qiu Yizhi coming in, he raised his hand to signal Qiu Yizhi to sit down and said, "Father's reply has arrived. Please take a look at it, dear brother." After that, he handed Qiu Yizhi the thin rice paper in his hand. Yi Zhi.
Qiu Yizhi took the paper respectfully, held it in her hand and read it carefully. He saw that what was written on the paper was a very calm and solemn regular script on Wei stele - it was the handwriting of the current emperor Zheng Rong, so he held his breath and read it carefully.
I saw that Zheng Rong was very satisfied with the progress of Zheng Xin and Qiu Yizhi's handling of the case. He also expressed his appreciation for their timely request for instructions from him when they encountered sensitive matters such as Yin Chengliang, and praised them with effusive words.
Qiu Yizhi felt happy and continued reading.
But seeing that Zheng Rong showed no signs of success, he immediately scolded Yin Chengliang, saying that on the one hand, he was an official and a man without self-cultivation and moral integrity, and had committed scandals that would be unspeakable for a gentleman; on the other hand, in order to cover up his crimes, he secretly The soldiers faced Qiu Yi with their swords; the third was to hijack hundreds of officials in the south of the Yangtze River and act as an accomplice to the tiger, making the official atmosphere in the south of the Yangtze River extremely dirty. With these three major crimes, Yin Chengliang would not be able to forgive him even if he was cut into pieces with a thousand swords.
When Qiu Yizhi saw this, he couldn't help but take a breath: he knew that Zheng Rong was usually the most lenient, and he had strict requirements on his sons, and he would forgive the sins of his officials and generals whenever possible - Even Shi Liangzhi, who once imprisoned him, was only demoted to the third rank and stayed in the post of Minister of Rites to serve his crime and perform meritorious service.
However, Zheng Rong's writing today obviously did not want to forgive Yin Chengliang in the slightest, and also used it to characterize the entire Jiangnan officialdom. It can be seen that the emperor was determined to severely rectify his officialdom.
However, Zheng Rong changed his writing and wrote: Zheng Xin's letter is very good. Although Yin Chengliang was dirty and obscene, the court wanted to respect the dignity of the country. His crime cannot be exposed to the world. In my opinion, Zheng Xin and Yi agreed to discuss it. The plan is excellent. I have discussed it with Mr. Zhongli and can implement it according to the plan. If there is anything you don't understand or can't do it yourself, please feel free to write to me for instructions.
Qiu Yi saw that Emperor Zheng Rong was very satisfied with his plan and felt happy in his heart. He smiled and said to Zheng Xin: "Brother, since the Emperor has given permission, we will act according to the plan."
Zheng Xin was also in a good mood and said, "Don't be busy. Dear brother, please read the letter first. My father will have special words for you later!"
Qiu Yizhi's heart moved after hearing this, and he quickly read to the back.
It turned out that Zheng Rong knew that Qiu Yi's command of only eighteen men had resisted tens of thousands of Jiangnan Jiedu troops for six days, so he wrote: "Yizhi defeats many with less. It can be seen that the way of using troops is becoming more and more sophisticated, and sincerity can be great." However, the weak combat power of the local Jiedu army in Jiangnan is also evident. I can trust Yi Zhijiu to handle military affairs. In the future, we can cooperate with Zuo General Cui Nanduo to train troops in Jiangnan and organize local military affairs. It should be noted that southern Xinjiang is not yet peaceful, or There is a day when there are soldiers.”
The so-called "not yet peaceful" refers to Zheng Rong's brother - Zheng Gui, the king of Lingnan; and the "day of using troops" refers to Zheng Gui holding a large number of troops, a disobedient heart, and being younger than Zheng Rong. It seems that he will To eliminate this inner worry, I am afraid that the teachings of saints and brotherhood alone are not enough.
This is an important matter that is no less important than the rectification of Jiangnan's officialdom. Qiu Yizhi's heart was filled with ups and downs after reading it to the end, and he was speechless for a long time.
Zheng Xin had already read this letter over and over countless times. Of course he knew about this important military matter, and even though he was jealous, he also understood what Qiu Yizhi was worried about now.
So he coughed lightly and said: "My father's military orders are a thing of the past. For now, we still need to settle the Yin Chengliang case first. Come on, come on, dear brother, you must be thirsty. Let Brother Yu make it for you personally." Tea, let’s discuss how to talk to Yin Chengliang first.”
His Highness made tea and water for himself. What an honor it was. If it were given to an ordinary official, it would be enough for him to brag about for a while. However, Qiu Yizhi understood in her heart that this was His Highness's move to win over her, so she had to pretend not to understand the deeper meaning, looking out the window thoughtfully, but using her peripheral vision to observe Zheng Xin unskillfully pouring money for her. Tea.
Zheng Xin worked hard for a while, with sweat on his forehead. He took a breath and said, "Brother, please have some tea."
Qiu Yizhi could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb. After a moment of thanks, she picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea, and asked, "How is Yin Chengliang doing at Brother's these days?"
Zheng Xin also took a sip of water and replied: "This Yin Chengliang is quite well-mannered. He knew that he was under house arrest, but he was still very calm. He neither complained about injustice nor made nonsense. Thinking about it, I really admire him."
Qiu Yizhi said: "Yin Chengliang is not an incompetent person. The late emperor was tired of government affairs, and many military and political affairs in various places were neglected. Fortunately, Jiangnan Road was stable and prosperous, and the country did not lose its supply of finance, taxation, money and food. The Han Dynasty can maintain its existence to this day, and Yin Chengliang also It’s quite an achievement!”
Zheng Xin said, "But he has been operating in Jiangnan for so long that he can cover the sky with one hand. If my father wants to create a prosperous world for the Han Dynasty, he must remove this stumbling block! If Yin Chengliang could understand his father's wishes a few days earlier, he would take the initiative to request to become an official. Or he could be transferred, and he might still be able to survive. But he just didn't appreciate the promotion and mobilized a large number of troops to besiege the worthy brother. This is a heinous crime that cannot be forgiven. "
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi nodded and said: "Yin Chengliang has an excellent reputation among the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River. He has done a lot of good things and eliminated bad things for the people's livelihood. In my humble opinion, there may not be many people in the Han Dynasty who want to He is such a capable official! After Your Highness punishes him, I don’t know who can take over his position. As long as there is no trouble in Jiangnan for a while, it will be good. "
Zheng Xin frowned and said: "I think your good brother is a good candidate, but you are indifferent to fame and wealth and refuse to take this top position. Forget it! This matter is not something you and I can worry about. Who should be sent or not, I'm afraid my father still has I'm thinking about it with Master Zhongli! We are both very talented, so as long as we can take down Yin Chengliang safely, it will be a great achievement."
Qiu Yizhi nodded in agreement, took a sip of tea and said nothing.
After half a moment, Zheng Xin saw that Qiu Yi had finished the bowl of herbal tea in front of him, and said, "Brother Yu, seeing that it's neither too early nor too late, I just went to meet Yin Chengliang for a while. I can use my wise brother's clever plan to kill him today." Once the case is settled, it will be even better.”
After Qiu Yizhi heard this, he quickly stood up and agreed: "It all depends on my brother's orders!"
The Qixia Temple where Zheng Xin stayed was a famous temple in the south of the Yangtze River. It was prosperous and there were many wealthy believers, so a lot of money was donated to the temple. However, Qixia Temple is full of monks and has no way to use money. They have to save a certain amount of money for incense and then buy land and build temples next to the temple.
Over the past hundred years, Qixia Temple has been built into a huge temple complex, and its area alone is no smaller than that of Shanyin County under the rule of Qiu Yi.
Therefore, under the guidance of the guards, Zheng Xin and Qiu Yizhi passed through countless moon gates and walked countless paths before arriving at the door of a secluded Zen room.
The seven or eight soldiers guarding in front of the Zen room saw that the main hall was coming, and they hurriedly performed a military salute. The leader among them took half a step forward and said, "It turns out that the main hall is coming, but do you want to see Yin Chengliang?"
Zheng Xin nodded and asked, "How is Yin Chengliang doing today?"
The officer cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to Your Highness, Yin Chengliang is still eating, drinking, and resting as usual. There is nothing unusual about his eating, drinking, and resting. Today he went out for a walk for half an hour. The same monk said five or six sentences, and all my soldiers were beside him. Listen. Other than that, it’s just writing in the house.”
Qiu Yizhi secretly admired Zheng Xin for monitoring Yin Chengliang so closely, but she heard Zheng Xin order: "I want to talk to Yin Chengliang. You and your brothers should be on guard twenty steps away from the monastery. Without my order, No one is allowed to come near. Got it?"
After hearing this, the officer immediately raised his hands and said: "I have the order!" Then he turned around and went down, summoned twenty or thirty soldiers under his command, and after a few words of training, he followed Zheng Xin's instructions and went to a place twenty steps away from the Zen room. , look for stubborn rocks, old trees, rockeries, etc. to hide.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi admired: "The elder brother governs people with military laws. He enforces orders and prohibitions in such a vigorous and resolute manner. It really opened my eyes to the younger brother!"
Zheng Xin smiled and said: "We are all from Lao Youyan Taoism, so what does this little trick mean? You are overestimating me, my dear brother." During the exchange of greetings, he personally pushed open the wooden door of the Zen room where Yin Chengliang was under house arrest, and stepped in.
Qiu Yizhi also followed him into the meditation room, and sure enough he saw Yin Chengliang, just as the officer who was guarding him said, sitting in front of the desk and writing with concentration and breathlessness.
Yin Chengliang raised his eyes and saw Zheng Xin coming over. He stopped writing and said, "It turns out that the Highness is here. Please wait until I finish writing these words before talking to His Highness."
Zheng Xin didn't get angry after hearing this, and waited quietly for Yin Chengliang to finish writing this calligraphy, and said: "Master Yin is such a good calligraphy. Just this calligraphy, I don't know how long I can practice it before I can compare with you!"
Yin Chengliang read the calligraphy he had just finished from the beginning to the end, and then replied: "Your Highness, this is a compliment. I also know that Your Highness' Taishan is Mr. Qin Guangyuan, and his calligraphy has reached its peak." How can these two graffiti of Xiaguan come into the eyes of His Highness? It is a blessing for His Highness to be able to send these words to Mr. Qin and ask him to give them some advice. ”
After saying that, Yin Chengliang picked up the calligraphy in front of him and presented it to Zheng Xin.
Zheng Xin took it and took a look, but what he wrote was the "Thousand-Character Essay" for children's enlightenment - starting from "Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang" and ending with "Yanzaihuye", the entire thousand words were written in Liu-style block letters, not half of them. Perfunctory and scrawled words.
So Zheng Xin said: "Master Yin's calligraphy is famous all over the world for his cursive calligraphy. I didn't expect his regular script to be so upright and meaningful. It's really extraordinary."
Yin Chengliang smiled humiliatedly after hearing this and said: "Xiaoguan used to like to be arty. Even for a few words, he thought that the more grass, the better, the more flowers, the better, but he didn't want to be known as a sensationalist. In Qixia Temple these days, , listening to the sound of chanting sutras every morning and evening, I realized the truth of returning to nature, and felt that calligraphy is also a regular script, stroke by stroke, which is the foundation of one's life. "
After that, Yin Chengliang actually introduced his handwriting to Zheng Xin one by one. He did not hide the flaws in his writing, but pointed at which strokes were worthy of consideration; if he wrote well, He is also not modest, saying that he is imitating the ancient sages and so on.
Even Zheng Xin was very patient. He listened to him say this for half an hour without interrupting. (To be continued)