Di Ming

Chapter 157 A Bow Bent on a Precipice
Kangxi replied, "Wang Ruifang, Dong Shi, and others secretly plotted, saying it was like bending a bow on a precipice. They planned to find a master handwriting imitator to imitate Your Majesty's handwriting and write a poem praising Zhang Juzheng, speaking out for Zhang Juzheng, and satirizing the current emperor's incompetence..."

As Kangxi narrated, Zhu Yin's gaze grew increasingly cold. Wang Ruifang and her ilk were truly too insidious.

This isn't just preventing myself from taking the exam; it's killing me!

Human jealousy is truly terrifying.

It turns out that the Provincial Education Commissioner (Imperial Education Censor) of Southern Zhili will arrive in Nanyong in six days.

As was customary, before each provincial examination, the Grand Master would come to Nanyong and hold a poetry and wine gathering with the Chancellor and other academic officials to get close to the scholars.

This was actually an activity conducted by the academic authorities to assess the academic atmosphere and address public opinion before the major exam.

At that time, many scholars will write poems to present to the great master and respectfully request his comments.

Of course, there are many people at the poetry and wine gathering, and the scholars who present poems cannot easily approach the grand masters, lest they offend them by getting drunk.

Therefore, the poems needed to be submitted by a designated person, who was called the manuscript collector. The manuscript collector was also a scholar, but he was temporarily assigned to this task, collecting poems at the meeting.

The person assigned to receive the manuscript was also Wang Ruifang's best friend.

Wang Ruifang plans to ask Song Huaiqian, a member of the Chrysanthemum Society and the most skilled handwriting imitator in Nanyong, to carefully imitate her handwriting.

Song Huaiqian was nearly forty years old and still a scholar. But few people knew that he was a master of handwriting imitation.

He only needs to see enough genuine works by the person being imitated to create a work that is indistinguishable from the real thing to the average person.

On the day of the poetry and wine gathering, Wang Ruifang will concoct three "rebellious poems".

One poem was intended to be presented to the Grandmaster by the recipient, while the other two were planned to be hidden in his own book box.

Specifically, after drinking and writing a poem on the spot, the recipient would replace the poem with a "rebellious poem" when submitting it.

When a grandmaster sees his drunken "rebellious poem," even if he tries to explain it himself, the manuscripts in his classroom will be subject to a surprise inspection.

Then, two more "anti-poems" will be found in the classroom's book box manuscripts.

Then, one would be unable to defend oneself.

The current emperor still harbors resentment towards Zhang Juzheng; Zhang Juzheng is his Achilles' heel. The ruling faction in the court are also the former anti-Zhang faction, and most of them are Zhang Juzheng's political enemies.

In the present Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng is characterized as a traitor, a villain, and a rebel.

Criticizing Zhang Juzheng is politically correct, and no one can exonerate him.

The number of literary inquisitions in the Ming Dynasty was second only to that in the Qing Dynasty.

If my poems were to praise Zhang Juzheng or satirize the emperor for wrongly accusing loyal ministers, what would that be like?
The lightest punishment would be utter depravity, and at the very least, dismissal or caning. This was already a very lucky outcome.

Secondly, there's the serious charge of spreading rumors and disrupting the government, which could lead to imprisonment, exile, or even being beaten to death.

It could also be a charge of disrespect!
If it is utter disrespect, then it is an unforgivable crime. The lightest punishment is death by beating, and the heinousst is death by a thousand cuts.

The most ingenious part of this scheme is that anyone who defends themselves, whether they claim to have been wronged or to have spoken out of turn while drunk, will be suspected of sympathizing with Zhang Juzheng.

It's easy to get yourself into trouble by criticizing Zhang Juzheng under the guise of political correctness.

It really is a "precarious cliff and bent bow" situation.

Even if the person in a higher position discovers that they might have been wronged, they would still be unable to take the exam.

But Wang Ruifang's wicked scheme didn't end there. This was just the first move.

He had a second trick up his sleeve, which was not only vicious but also extremely despicable.

Wang Ruifang has always been proud and vindictive. After being rejected by the Zhuang family, he was shocked and deeply ashamed, and from then on, he hated Zhuang Shu to the core.

For the past six months, he has been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on the dealer.

He bribed the servants of the Zhuang family and learned that ten days later would be the third anniversary of Zhuang Shu's mother's death. Zhuang Shu would go to Baoguo Temple to offer incense and pray. After leaving the city, she would stay at the Zhuang family's villa in the south of the city that day.

Wang Ruifang planned to have the maid impersonate Zhuang Shu and invite her to go together.

When he arrived, he ordered his servant to put a sleeping potion in the tea to drug him and Zhuang Shu.

Then, he sneaked in at night, covered his face, and defiled Zhuang Shu, ruining her innocence. This not only allowed him to vent his anger but also framed himself.

In this way, both he and Zhuang Shu would be finished—killing two birds with one stone. As long as no one died, the authorities wouldn't find anything. As for whether his eleven-year-old body was capable of that, Wang Ruifang was certain it wouldn't be a problem, since he himself had been able to at ten.

The maidservants around Zhuang Shu had been bribed by someone sent by Wang Ruifang, who then threatened her family, so she dared not disobey.

That servant girl dared to expose the conspiracy, and she didn't even know that the person who bribed her was related to Wang Ruifang.

This scheme was despicable. But Wang Ruifang miscalculated her relationship with Zhuang Shu.

He knew he couldn't keep his appointment with Zhuang Shu and risk causing Ning Caiwei to misunderstand.

But Wang Ruifang felt that since the beautiful young woman had made an appointment with her, she would be more than happy to accept.

Emperor Kangxi also said that this treacherous plan was subject to change and might not necessarily be carried out in this way.

If he escapes the calamity of the anti-poem rebellion unscathed, then this second treacherous plan will proceed as scheduled.

If he were to fall into trouble because of "anti-poetry" and be imprisoned, then he would modify this second wicked plan.

He would still defile Zhuang Shu, but he wouldn't need to frame himself anymore.

This shows that he has become obsessed with Zhuang Shu, who rejected him, and is determined to taint her purity.

Their mind has become twisted.

It's hard to believe that a fourteen-year-old boy could be so wicked; is it his nature or a result of childhood trauma that led to such a dark and twisted mind?

These two wicked schemes were intended to target himself, but they were merely incidental.

His bigger plan was to use the Chrysanthemum Society to connect scholars throughout Nanjing, launch a massive joint petition, incite public opinion in Jiangnan, and force the court to reinstate the number of candidates for the provincial examinations of that year.

Representing the will of scholars in the Jiangnan region, they challenged the scholars in the north, using this opportunity to seize control of public opinion and realize their political ambitions.

The powerful figures behind the Chrysanthemum Society, such as Wang Shizhen, also wanted to take this opportunity to let the imperial court and the emperor see "what the public opinion is like in Jiangnan".

This is just the first step. Once the initial battle is won and the move proves feasible, then "public opinion" will be even stronger.

The politics of the Ming Dynasty were based on compromise of interests. Therefore, in order to "conform to the will of the people," the emperor naturally had to make some concessions.

Ultimately, it was all for the sake of making the emperor "more obedient."

Wang Shizhen and others were the real leaders of the Chrysanthemum Society, while Wang Ruifang and other teenagers were just figureheads.

As for Wang Ruifang's two wicked schemes against him, they were merely his personal agenda, and Wang Shizhen himself was probably unaware of them.

After reporting the intelligence, Kangxi said, "My lord, shouldn't we launch our attack now? It's better to strike first."

Zhu Yin nodded, "It's time to get started. The seventh day of the month in three days is Ding day, one of the four major Ding sacrifices. At that time, Nan Yong will go to the Confucius Temple to solemnly worship Confucius."

"On the day of the Ding sacrifice, there are a huge number of people, and it is the best opportunity to be in full view of everyone."

"He wants to wait for the Grandmaster to come to Nanyong, but I'm waiting for the Grandmaster to go to the Confucius Temple."

"Since he's courting death, let him suffer eternal damnation."

Kangxi laughed and said, "Your Majesty is a man of great wisdom and has long known him inside and out. You could have killed him at any time. It's laughable that he thinks he's so clever and is completely unaware of this."

Zhu Yin sneered: "This is what happens when a fool plays chess, neglecting his family for the sake of his life."

Kangxi said, "It's not that I think he's stupid; on the contrary, I think he's very shrewd. It's just that he chose the wrong opponent and shouldn't have opposed the lord."

Zhu Yin said, "Go ahead and do it step by step according to my method. Don't rush, there are still three days."

"Yes!" Kangxi accepted the order and left.

Zhu Yin leaned leisurely against the ancient pine tree, watching a squirrel on a branch, and said quietly:

"What I'm least afraid of is playing dirty tricks."

"If I lose, then no one can win."

P.S.: I'm not feeling well, so that's all I can write for now. I almost had to take a day off. I need to take my medicine and rest. Thank you to all my readers who have supported me. Goodnight.

(End of this chapter)