After marking the first point in his mind, Zhu Pingan continued to read on, and then came to the core issue in Brother Yang's memorial:
"I hope the emperor will listen to my words and investigate Song's treachery. The ministers are afraid of Song's power and appreciate his kindness, so there is no need to ask. The emperor may ask the two kings and ask them to confess Song's evil deeds to his face; or ask the cabinet ministers and tell them not to fear Song's power. If the truth is found, the emperor may punish him with heavy crimes to rectify the country's laws if it is serious, or order him to retire and return home to save the country's morale if it is minor. Then the internal traitor will be gone and the government will be clean."
This paragraph is the direct cause of Brother Yang's tragedy. Brother Yang's words "or ask the two kings" violated the taboo of Emperor Jiajing, which led to Brother Yang's failure to impeach Yan Song. He was also imprisoned and interrogated, and finally executed.
Zhu Ping'an read it very carefully. After he finished studying Senior Brother Yang's memorial, the morning light was rising in the eastern sky.
"Brother, I am safe..."
After reading and closing the memorial, Zhu Ping'an called out "Senior Brother" and paused, considering how to start his proposal.
"Zihou, there is nothing wrong between you and me. Zihou, if you have any advice, please speak frankly. Sheng, I am all ears." Upon seeing this, Yang Jisheng couldn't help but smile slightly and stretched out his hand as a gesture of invitation.
"Brother, what do you want to say? Ping An will speak directly. After reading it, Ping An has two superficial opinions. Let's discuss them with you." Zhu Ping An nodded, opened the memorial and spread it on the dining table. He pointed out the paragraph where the first suggestion was, and slowly said, "The first point: Brother, in this paragraph, you said that the emperor "has always tolerated Song's evil deeds", and then said, "It is just to save the dignity of the ministers, so he tolerated him and waited for him to ruin himself"... ... It is implied that the emperor is protecting Yan Song. The emperor may not be happy after reading the memorial. In Ping An's opinion, it is better to delete the relevant sentences about the emperor's tolerance."
After listening to Zhu Ping'an's first opinion, Yang Jisheng smiled and shook his head, "Zihou, you are worrying too much about this. Sheng, this paragraph is not to blame Your Majesty, but to remind Your Majesty not to give Yan thief any more leniency. Yan thief is a weed in the seedlings and a tiger in the city. He is a harm as long as he is in power. If he is not eliminated, millions of people will suffer from his harm."
"Brother, having said that, reading it still makes people feel that the emperor is protecting you. If the emperor also feels this way after reading the memorial, it will be bad for your memorial." Zhu Ping'an shook his head and reminded again.
"Zihou, I understand what you mean, but it would be unwise to give up eating because of choking. My success today is all due to the grace of Your Majesty. I am reminding Your Majesty frankly to repay the emperor's grace and to be loyal to my duties as a subject." Yang Jisheng shook his head when he heard this. He did not accept Zhu Ping'an's suggestion and his attitude was very firm.
Well.
A bad start.
Zhu Pingan sighed in his heart. In fact, he understood that there was nothing wrong with what Yang Jisheng said, because it was the duty of a minister to speak out and give advice. In history, Wei Zheng, the prime minister in the early Tang Dynasty, was known for his courage to give advice to the emperor, and became a model for ministers of all dynasties to follow. No one is perfect. The emperor is also a human being and sometimes makes mistakes. As a minister, after discovering that the emperor has made a mistake, would he not remind the emperor because he was worried that the emperor would blame him? ! If so, is it still the behavior of a qualified minister? !
Besides, he is the famous Yang Jisheng.
In addition, compared with "Or Ask the Two Kings", this problem is just a minor one, while "Or Ask the Two Kings" is a real serious illness.
"Let's not talk about this for now. I hope you will consider the second point."
Zhu Ping'an weighed the pros and cons in his mind again and again, and gave up the idea of continuing to persuade him on this point, and focused on "or ask the two kings".
"Zihou, please speak." Seeing Zhu Ping'an so serious and formal, Yang Jisheng also sat up straight and asked Zhu Ping'an to talk about the second point.
"The second point is here - 'The emperor may ask the two princes to tell them about Song's evil deeds in person.'" Zhu Ping'an pointed out this sentence on the memorial, raised his head to look at Yang Jisheng, and said seriously and solemnly.
As soon as Zhu Ping'an finished speaking, he heard the sound of a cup knocking over from the inner bedroom, and also vaguely heard a muffled scream.
who
Anyone else
Zhu Ping'an was startled when he heard the sound coming from the inner room, and turned his head to look towards the inner room.
"Oh, Zihou, don't worry, it's my son Yingji who is in the room." Yang Jisheng smiled slightly and explained softly.
It turned out to be Senior Brother Yang's second son. Zhu Ping'an breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that.
Senior Brother Yang had two sons, the eldest son Yang Yingwei and the second son Yang Yingji. According to historical records, Senior Brother Yang failed to impeach Yan Song and was thrown into prison. Knowing that he would die, he wrote two wills in prison, one of which was "A Foolish Husband's Letter to His Virtuous Wife Zhang Zhen" to his wife, and the other was "A Father's Letter to His Sons Yingwei and Yingji" to his two sons.
"Ying Ji, what's wrong?" After explaining to Zhu Ping'an, Yang Jisheng asked loudly towards the house.
"Please punish me, father. I was thirsty, so I poured myself a cup of tea. I didn't expect the tea was too hot, so I accidentally knocked over the cup." Just as Yang Jisheng finished speaking, a ten-year-old boy's explanation came from the inner room.
"All great things in the world must be done with details. Your father has said this many times. This time I punish you to copy the Analects of Confucius ten times. Do you have any objection?" Upon hearing this, Yang Jisheng shook his head slightly and raised his voice to educate the inner room.
"I have no objection." The voice of Yang Yingji accepting the punishment came from the inner room.
"Brother, I just accidentally knocked over a cup, and you punished me to copy the Analects ten times. Isn't that a bit too much?" Zhu Ping'an advised softly after hearing this.
The Analects has 20 chapters, totaling 15,900 words. Copying it ten times would be nearly 160,000 words. Calligraphy is not like modern fountain pens or gel pens. How long would it take to copy 160,000 words with a calligraphy brush
"Ten times is not a lot actually. Firstly, copying the Analects can help cultivate one's character, and secondly, it can deepen Ying Ji's understanding. However, since Zihou has already spoken, let's copy it five times." Yang Jisheng smiled slightly as he explained the good intentions of copying the Analects as a punishment, but he still listened to Zhu Ping'an's advice and changed the punishment of copying ten times to five times.
"Thank you, father, and thank you, brother Zhu, for your kindness. However, a man's word is worth a thousand gold. Yingji has already promised to copy it ten times. How can I go back on my word? Please take back your order, father. I am willing to copy the Analects ten times." Although Yang Yingji from the inner room is young, he is very principled in doing things and insisted on copying the Analects ten times.
"Well, you are worthy of being my son, Yang Jisheng." Upon hearing this, Yang Jisheng praised Yang Yingji's decision and had a proud look on his face.
"Ping An is ashamed." Zhu Ping An bowed his hands in shame upon hearing this, and he admired Yang Jisheng's family style. In dealing with people, honesty comes first, and this small incident shows a corner of the Yang family's family style.