The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 324 Do You Have a Brain?
These days, the imperial prison is truly terrifying.

Most people would tremble with fear after being thrown into the imperial prison.

However, some people are not afraid.

Meng Yanghao is one of those people who is not afraid.

Most of the young and inexperienced people in the Qingliu community are like this. Once they get excited, they are not afraid of anything.

He was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his neck stiffened, as if ready to die heroically at any time.

Originally, he thought that if he went to the imperial prison, he would at least be tortured.

Who would have thought that instead of taking him away for torture, the Jinyiwei here sent him a bunch of things, including bedding, pillows, a small table, an oil lamp, and even the four treasures of the study.

Is this how the imperial prison treats prisoners?
Obviously not. When he was brought in, he clearly saw a prisoner sleeping in the corner of the cell after being tortured.

There was nothing but a pile of hay in that guy's cell.

He was a little confused when he looked at the small table and the four treasures of the study in front of him.

The weather is warm now, and it's very comfortable to sit on the ground.

He felt that he was not here to be tortured, but to stay in a hotel!

After an unknown amount of time, someone finally opened the cell door and announced, "Master Meng, the Emperor has summoned you."

He has even been summoned, isn't this torture?
No, Your Majesty!

Meng Yanghao was stunned for a moment, then quickly got up from the ground and followed the jailer out.

Soon, he was taken to a torture chamber.

The person sitting on the main seat was still Wanli, wearing the Feiyu suit.

Upon seeing this, Meng Yanghao quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

This guy isn't that crazy.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Lord Meng, you studied the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, right?"

This question is about us, the descendants of Mencius. If we are not learning the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, what are we learning?
If you were not the emperor today, I would just roll my eyes at you. Do you believe me?

Meng Yanghao nodded helplessly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I am a disciple of Confucius and Mencius."

Wanli nodded slightly and said calmly, "Gentleness, courtesy, frugality, modesty, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness; loyalty, filial piety, integrity, shame, and courage. You should all understand these, so I won't explain them to you. You can pass the imperial examination based on your real ability, so you shouldn't be stupid, right?"

It's not very stupid, but it's still stupid.

Am I stupid?
What are you talking about?

Meng Yanghao was a little speechless.

Seeing this, Wanli simply raised his hand and pointed at his head and said, "Today I will talk to you about intelligence. You need to use your brain to do things, do you know?"

Why am I out of my mind?

Even if you are the emperor today, you cannot humiliate me like this.

Meng Yanghao simply replied, "Your Majesty, I know."

Do you know anything else?

Wanli then asked directly, "Then I want to ask you, do you know who wrote 'Illustrated Explanations of Guifan'?"

Uh, who knows.

Meng Yanghao shook his head awkwardly and said, "I don't know."

Wanli pressed the issue, "Then do you know who wrote 'The Discussion on the Worry and Danger of the Hong Kong Incident' and 'The Sequel to the Discussion on the Worry and Danger of the Hong Kong Incident'?"

Am I really stupid?

Meng Yanghao shook his head blankly and said, "I don't know."

Wanli continued to ask: "Do you think a true clean official would do such sneaky things?"

That certainly won't happen.

I really have no brains!
Meng Yanghao slowly shook his head and said, "A true clean official would never do such a thing."

Wanli said with some dismay, "You have been used, do you know that?
"Illustrated Explanations of Guifan", "Opinions on the Crisis and the Emperor" and "Continuation of Opinions on the Crisis and the Emperor" were all written by the Zhejiang Party. They just want to provoke you to jump out and compete with me for the foundation of the country.

You probably didn't want to be the first to speak out at first, but these days, some colleagues must have come to talk to you about this, and it must have excited you to the point of no return. Am I right?"

I really have no brains!
Meng Yanghao nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Wanli shook his head slightly and sighed, "They don't want to stand out, but they provoke you to do so. Do you know why?

What they value is your status as the descendant of the Second Sage. All scholars in the world admire you for this status. Don’t you know what this status represents?

You are just a pawn in their internal struggle, and they planned to abandon you from the beginning. They want to make me so angry that I will chop you off and anger all the scholars in the world! "

I am really stupid!

Meng Yanghao said with some regret, "Your Majesty, I really didn't use my brain on this matter."

Fortunately, I am no longer the same person, and you still have a chance to regret it.

Wanli said solemnly: "If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight, do you know?
If I fail to be a good emperor, the Ming Dynasty will perish.

Scholars all over the world study the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. They respect your ancestors. This is your honor and also your responsibility.

If you act without thinking and listen to nonsense, you will bring shame to our ancestors, do you know that? "Alas, if His Majesty really kills me in anger, those people will mobilize scholars all over the world to criticize His Majesty. Yes, but what will I gain?

Others will only think that I don’t use my brain when doing things, and that I was foolishly taken advantage of and even lost my life!
If I were an ordinary scholar, it wouldn't be a big deal. I would just die. But the problem is that I am not an ordinary scholar.

The descendants of the Second Sage are so stupid, it really brings shame to our ancestors.

Meng Yanghao sighed inwardly, then said with a hint of shame: "Your Majesty, I was just trying to plead for the country and the people. I didn't think of anything else at the time."

Is this what you call pleading for the country and the people?

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "I have already said that the reason we have not appointed a crown prince is because we are waiting for the queen to give birth to a legitimate son. Only in this way can the foundation of the country be stable.

Are they instigating you to fight for the country and the people?

Don't you think about what will happen if the Queen gives birth to a legitimate son now that the Crown Prince has been appointed? They just want the world to be in chaos, don't you understand?"

How do you say this?

Meng Yanghao said with a stiff upper lip, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask you, what if the Empress is unable to give birth to a legitimate son?"

This was indeed the case in history, because Empress Dowager Li did not allow Emperor Wanli to favor Queen Wang.

However, it's different now.

I can favor whoever I want, and Empress Dowager Li has no control over it.

Wanli shook his head slightly and sighed, "This is a question I should consider, not a question for you ministers.

I will naturally try my best to make the Queen give birth to a legitimate son. If that is not possible, then I will definitely make the eldest son the heir. I have never said that I would violate the imperial Ming ancestral precepts and make the youngest son the heir.

These are all said by people with ulterior motives. They have been fighting for the throne since the eldest prince was only three or four years old. This is obviously a sinister intention. Can't you see it?
I can tell you that the Empress is pregnant with the Emperor's legitimate child, and will give birth by the end of the year. Tell me, if you come to fight for the throne at this time, won't you be ridiculed by the world?"

what?
Is the queen already pregnant with the emperor's son?
At this time, I was fooled into fighting for the throne of the country. Once the emperor's legitimate son was born, I would become a laughing stock of the world. I am dumber than a pig!

How am I going to go out and meet people in the future?

What scholars value most is face. My face is even more important to me. How can I face people after doing such a stupid thing?
Meng Yanghao said in a panic, "Your Majesty, I really don't know."

Are you panicking?

The reason I kept it a secret was to slap those people in the face, but you were tricked into bringing your face closer.

Fortunately, I didn't fall for it.

Now, if you want to save your face, you have no choice but to listen to me and slap those people in the face!

Wanli asked bluntly, "You don't want to become a laughing stock, do you?"

Of course, I don’t represent just myself.

If I really become a laughing stock of the world, I will lose all the face of my ancestors.

Meng Yanghao nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I don't want to bring shame to our ancestors."

Then do as I say.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "You should understand what the case of the evil book is about, and you should also understand why those people are fighting for the foundation of the country.

I have prepared the pen, ink, paper and inkstone for you. Think carefully about what you can write to save your face. Then I will publish all your articles in the official newspaper so that all the scholars in the world can read them.

Don't worry, I will release you before the birth of the legitimate royal child and promote you to the position of Deputy Minister of Rites. Later, you can be promoted to Doctor of Rites, Vice Minister of Rites, or Minister of Rites. You just need to work hard and you will be successful."

Oh, what you mean is that I should wake up and bite back before the emperor's legitimate son is born.

That way I won't look stupid.

His Majesty actually wants to take advantage of my identity.

However, His Majesty will use me to promote me three levels, or even promote me to the Minister of Rites, which will bring honor to my family.

Those guys used me because they wanted to use my life to arouse the indignation of scholars all over the world. I was foolish enough to be used by others and even lost my life, which only brought shame to my ancestors!

No need to think about how to choose this one.

Meng Yanghao quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. I will definitely write it well."

Hehe, the Zhejiang Party and Donglin still want to use the descendants of the Second Sage to plot against me.

I will let the descendants of the Second Sage turn against you and see who the scholars of the world will scold!
Wanli smiled secretly with satisfaction, then nodded slightly and said: "Well, don't worry, write slowly and carefully. If you need anything, just tell the jailer and they will send it to you."

We must seize this opportunity.

Meng Yanghao pondered carefully and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to read and ponder the 'Gui Fan', 'Gui Fan Tu Shuo', 'You Wei Hong Yi', and 'Xu You Wei Hong Yi' carefully."

Well, that’s good. I didn’t think about delicious food and drinks, I just thought about how to write articles.

This person is actually useful, at least his identity is useful. If we win him over, he can be used to fool the scholars in the world.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, these are all fine. Just tell me what you want to eat. Don't worry about the money. I still have this little money."

Meng Yanghao bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Wanli nodded slightly and gave detailed instructions: "Remember this, make sure you arrange everything for Meng Aiqing, including food, clothing, housing and transportation. In the summer, bring in more ice and prepare a fan for Meng Aiqing to cool him down."

Meng Yanghao was deeply moved when he heard this.

He originally thought that he would be tortured to death in the imperial prison, but who knew that the Emperor would be so kind to him!
A scholar will die for his confidant!
From now on, I will belong to His Majesty.

(End of this chapter)