When Li Shanchang saw the few lines of poetry circled in red, his pupils contracted slightly, and the hand stroking his beard even stopped.
Hu Weiyong, seeing this, became utterly delighted.
He said smugly, "My lord, you speak of this Yang Xian fellow; he truly doesn't know his place. Is he not, by saying such things, implying that the current Emperor is the worst of all emperors? That he is but a commoner?"
Li Shanchang's mind drifted elsewhere at this moment, paying no heed to Hu Weiyong's words.
At this time, he thought of his old rival and old friend, Liu Bowen.
He had originally thought that Yang Xian had inherited Liu Bowen's true teachings and would be very difficult to deal with, which was why he had tolerated him and held back.
Who knew that today he would learn that Yang Xian was nothing but a paper tiger.
On the other side, Hu Weiyong flipped a few more pages of the poetry collection and pointed to another poem, saying, "My lord, look at this poem again. On the surface, it praises the current Emperor for sweeping away the barbarians and restoring the land to the Han people. However, it repeatedly uses words like 'warrior,' 'corpse,' and 'compatriot,' which is a great disrespect to the court."
After Hu Weiyong had explained the "forbidden poems" in the Qingzhu Poetry Collection to Li Shanchang in detail...
Li Shanchang, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, "To bring down Yang Xian, is it truly worth stirring up a literary inquisition?"
Upon hearing this, Hu Weiyong did not hesitate for a moment. His eyes revealed a hatred that was etched into his bones.
He would never forget the humiliation he had suffered in the past.
The so-called "literary inquisition" was also commonly known as "persecution for writing."
This type of literary persecution, which caused the downfall of many scholars through the meticulous interpretation of words, had begun as early as the Three Kingdoms period and reached its peak during the Sui Dynasty.
The most famous poem from the Three Kingdoms was a seven-step poem written by Cao Zhi.
"Boiling beans to make soup, straining them for broth.
The beanstalks burn beneath the pot, the beans weep within.
Born of the same root, why torment each other so fiercely!"
The poem's general meaning was: Beans and beanstalks grew from the same root, so why should the beanstalks so fiercely torment the beans? Why should they be so cruelly oppressed?
It meant, "We are all born of the same mother, why should we kill each other?" It expressed Cao Zhi's grief and his denunciation and helplessness against Cao Pi's persecution of his siblings.
In the first month of the first year of Huangchu (220 AD), the sixty-six-year-old Cao Cao died. Cao Pi was promoted from crown prince to King of Wei. In October of the same year, Emperor Xian of Han was forced to abdicate, and Cao Pi ascended the throne, becoming Emperor Wen of Wei.
The experience of contending for the position of crown prince haunted Cao Pi. After he became emperor, he still harbored resentment towards Cao Zhi.
Coincidentally, Cao Zhi wrote a poem called the "Rhapsody on the Luo River," which was then presented to Cao Pi by someone with malicious intent.
After a thorough interpretation, Cao Pi was enraged. He believed that his brother was coveting his wife.
Cao Zhi knew he was being framed, and his brother took advantage of the situation.
However, he could not clear himself and could only compose a poem within seven steps in extreme grief and indignation, thereby saving his life.
The literary inquisitions of Emperor Yang of Sui were even more tragic, as they involved not just one person but many.
Logically speaking, Emperor Yang of Sui, who founded the Grand Canal and established the imperial examination system, should not have had such a poor reputation in history, even after his dynasty fell, nor should he have been compared to kings Zhou and Tang.
The main reason was that in his later years, Emperor Yang of Sui committed a foolish act and initiated a literary inquisition.
This literary inquisition made all the scholars in the land live in fear. Many Confucian scholars, afraid of being implicated, dared not enter the court as officials. There were even instances of "feigned death and simulated disability."
...
Therefore, using Yang Xian's poetry collection as a pretext to deal with him was indeed an effective method.
Given Zhu Yuanzhang's temperament, if he saw poems and essays that mocked his humble origins, he would undoubtedly fly into a rage. At that time, Yang Xian would not be spared even if he were to be cut into a thousand pieces or torn apart by five horses.
Hu Weiyong, on the other hand, had bribed a servant in Yang Xian's mansion, thus obtaining this information. He had also managed to steal the poetry collection from Yang Xian's residence.
The following evening, Li Shanchang secretly summoned his faction, the Huai Xi clique.
Except for the dukes Xu Da and Tang He, all others were present.
In Li's mansion, the "Huai Xi officials" vehemently condemned Yang Xian's transgressions and vied to express their resolve to Li Shanchang, vowing that they would never let Yang Xian go and would surely avenge Li Shanchang's anger.
Most of the officials in the Huai Xi faction were veteran ministers who had gained prominence during the late Yuan Dynasty. They were adept at reading people and knew when to speak and when to remain silent.
Now, they had naturally guessed Li Shanchang's purpose in summoning them. On one hand, it was to please Li Shanchang; on the other hand, it was for their own revenge, and they all showed great enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Li Shanchang remained pensive, frequently looking at Hu Weiyong, who stood beside him.
Upon receiving the hint, Hu Weiyong voluntarily stepped forward to the center, and Li Shanchang silently retreated, leaving the opportunity to speak to him.
Seeing this, the Huai Xi officials' eyes flickered, and they seemed to understand something.
Hu Weiyong looked at the Huai Xi officials from all directions, then at Li Shanchang, whose eyes were full of encouragement. He knew that his era was finally about to arrive.
He intended to utterly destroy everything Yang Xian held dear and, by doing so, establish his authority and display the might of the leader of the Huai Xi faction.
Hu Weiyong took out the poetry collection he had in his懷 and, once again, explained his plan to the surrounding Huai Xi officials.
Looking at the jubilant and excited Huai Xi officials, Hu Weiyong
slowly asked, "What do you think Yang Xian values most in his heart?"
Upon hearing Hu Weiyong's question, the Huai Xi officials knew that he did not merely want Yang Xian to die, but to die in excruciating pain.
Having guessed this, they offered their suggestions and opinions.
"Your subordinate believes that what Yang Xian values most in his heart must be his official position. Throughout his life, apart from the great merit he achieved when he was the Prefect of Hangzhou, he gained the current Emperor's favor through his cruel methods..."
"And if this poetry collection is presented to the Emperor, he will surely lose his position, his life will be forfeit, and his entire family may be executed. He will undoubtedly suffer immense pain!"
The speaker was Lu Zhongheng. He was a sycophant himself, always indulging in power and being cowardly. He projected his own thoughts and was the first to voice his opinion.
Hu Weiyong, hearing this, shook his head and said, "People are different. While power and life are important to Yang Xian, they may not be what he values most..."
"In my opinion, Yang Xian has always presented himself as a leader among upright officials, always taking pride in his reputation. What he values most in his heart is likely the reputation he has painstakingly cultivated!"
"Although Yang Xian has always claimed to be an incorruptible official, always saying he has never taken bribes, accepted bribes, or sought personal gain in his life, that is only because he has a brother who is good at making money."
"His brother, named Yang Fan, runs a trading company and has been engaged in illegal business activities, relying on Yang Xian's reputation. He has made a lot of money over the years!"
"And Yang Xian, this hypocrite, is able to live a life of luxury and maintain his habit of not being corrupt only with Yang Fan's support."
"According to the information gathered by my men, Yang Xian's lifestyle is extremely refined. Even a single meal can cost fifty to sixty taels of silver."
"Dishes like shredded pork with bean sprouts, five-color chicken noodles, fried lamb's milk, and simon oil, while sounding ordinary, are extremely expensive."
"Even the paper and ink he uses are precious imperial items such as Qingzhou Jade Brush, Shaanxi Jade Brush, Chengshi Hall Paper, Xuande Tribute Paper, Clear Spring Stone Ink, and Xuanjing Black Ink..."
"He is also vain and fond of collecting calligraphy and paintings by famous masters, such as Huang Tingjian's 'Stone Tablet Inscription,' Wang Meng's 'Autumn Mountain Temple in the Mountains,' and Chen Gua's 'Mood and Ink Flower.' The most precious among them is Lu Ji's 'Pingfu Tie' from the Western Jin Dynasty, valued at over a million taels."
After listening to Hu Weiyong's introduction, the Huai Xi officials present were all dumbfounded.
Although they were all parasites attached to the Ming Empire and were notorious corrupt officials, in terms of their daily expenses for food and clothing, they could not even compare to Yang Xian.
As he spoke, Hu Weiyong's expression of disdain grew even stronger.
"Yang Xian's affluent life is entirely due to his brother Yang Fan acting as his money bag. Although Yang Xian always claims to be incorruptible and upright, he is merely speaking from a position of privilege."
"Without Yang Fan's support, Yang Xian's salary alone might not be enough to cover his own living expenses, let alone support his more than a dozen concubines and over a hundred servants."
"If we were to raid his home now, although we might not find much gold and silver, the collected calligraphy and paintings would likely be worth several million taels of silver."
"Everyone says upright officials are good; who wouldn't want to be an upright official? It's just that we aren't as fortunate as Yang Xian, with people constantly sending us money..."
As Hu Weiyong's words fell, the Huai Xi officials nodded repeatedly, feeling a sense of empathy.
They had always found the high-and-mighty demeanor of the "clear stream" faction, originating from the Jiangnan gentry and led by Yang Xian, unbearable.
The Huai Xi officials, led by Hu Weiyong, devised a multitude of insidious plots against Yang Xian in Li's mansion.
Late at night, Huang Minghao, the chief eunuch of Yangxin Hall, brought a thick stack of memorials and carefully placed them before Zhu Yuanzhang, reminding him, "Your Majesty, these are memorials submitted by court officials that require your personal review."
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