I have been looking forward to "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" for a long time, which can be traced back to my college days. Time passes silently, and it has been ten years since I graduated.
This hope originated from a doctor I met in college. At that time, I thought that I had read a lot and had good grades, and I always had "little pride" and "little arrogance". I believe that many girls were like this during that period. Unexpectedly, when the doctor asked about Huang Renyu's "Fifteen Years of Wanli", he was dumbfounded. I went to the library several times to look for it, but to no avail. As graduation approaches, there are so many other things that I gradually forget. After working, I did nothing and read very little.
Occasionally, I will search Baidu for the introduction and evaluation of Huang Renyu and "The Fifteen Years of Wanli", and I feel even more ashamed of my ignorance. Xie Mian said that this book inspired his conception of China's century-old literary history. The discerning Wang Xiaobo commented seriously but humorously that "old good books are always better than new bad books." The cynical Wang Shuo turned out to be one of the " Fans of "Fifteen Years of Wanli", Yi Zhongtian and others also strongly recommend "Fifteen Years of Wanli".
In October 2011, I finally had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of her. Among my earliest book purchase plans, the first one was "Fifteen Years of Wanli" by Sanlian Publishing House. Looking at the number of reprints, since it was first published by Sanlian Publishing House in May 1997, it has been reprinted almost every year, and even several times a year. By 2010, it had been reprinted 29 times.
When I first read "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli", the first thing I was attracted to was its exquisite structure. I am used to the chronological style of historical textbooks, and it was refreshing. He took a special year (1587) as a cross-section, and then connected all the events; he used biographical chapters of characters to show a historical picture. Furthermore, it adopts a diversified perspective on the characters. People are no longer loyal, traitorous, good and evil, but are closer to human nature and closer to historical reality. The exquisite structure made me marvel at Huang Renyu's ability to combine historical materials; the diverse perspectives of the characters made me realize that whether it is history or real life, many human affairs are by no means what they appear on the surface.
“When a country has a large population and everyone’s actions are restricted by Confucian principles that are simple and unfixable, and the laws lack creativity, the extent of its social development will inevitably be limited. Even if Even if the purpose is good, it cannot compensate for the inadequacy of technology." Under the theme of this work, Huang Renyu recorded a general record of failure in history.
The first tragic figure is the living ancestor—Emperor Wanli!
It has always been believed that the emperor’s position and supreme status, “in the whole world, is it the king’s land; "Bin, could it be a royal minister?" is a symbol of the highest power, a monopoly of power; an unattainable status; a synonym for golden words and true words; a cluster of flowers; I always think that the emperor may be the "free" person in the true sense. . Moreover, the Wanli Yellow Emperor was a famous "lazy" emperor. For more than 40 years, he had been passive and idle in government for more than 20 years. I remember when I was talking about the text "Tombstones of Five People", the fierce and cruel battle between the Donglin Party members and the Eunuch Party was also "passionately" traced back to Emperor Wanli's neglect of government.
However, in this book, Huang Renyu relied on his thorough understanding of history and humanized descriptions from multiple perspectives to subvert his inherent superficial impression of Emperor Wanli in his mind.
Wanli was smart and mature at a young age. He was able to read at the age of 5. "The voice came from the Dantian, was deep and powerful, and had lingering sound." He studied diligently, practiced calligraphy every day, and memorized classics and history. "If memorizing is like a silver bottle draining water, my teacher Zhang Juzheng will praise it." If the emperor's sage stumbles over his words or pronounces other words, Mr. Zhang will show his identity as a strict master and question him, making him feel ashamed." He has made outstanding progress and can write large characters larger than a ruler at the age of 10. He was diligent and familiar with various etiquette systems, such as offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, worshiping ancestors in temples, celebrating New Year's Day, appreciating the Dragon Boat Festival and other complex rituals. At the same time, he frequently changed different attires to maintain the majesty of the emperor and the dignity of the royal family. It is conceivable that his status as emperor deprived him of the family friendships of ordinary people and the innocence that he should have had as a child. Being born in an imperial family and ascending to the throne of emperor destined him to be lonely and lonely.
Since he wrote large characters larger than a ruler, he can no longer practice calligraphy. Because "a sage monarch governs the world with virtue, and the exquisite art is of no benefit to the people." He wants to be frugal and diligent. He regards Zhang Juzheng as his father and has absolute trust and reliance on him; even if he wants to give his own My mother renovated and decorated the palace where she lived. My mother's gratitude could not be expressed in a kind and loving tone. Instead, I asked the bachelor to write an article praising the emperor's pure filial piety, and read it line by line when he knelt down. It was a natural communication between mother and son. Nor can it be revealed naturally and sincerely! Because the emperor is a symbol of etiquette and an example, he cannot reveal a trace of his own selfishness.
As he grows older, he does not want to become a puppet. After all, he is a flesh-and-blood and intelligent person. Therefore, the sudden death of the grand master makes him feel that he finally has the right to freedom. He wants to resist! One night Suddenly, he discovered that Zhang Juzheng, whom he regarded as his father, had another face. He spoke of frugality, but his private life was extremely luxurious. As an emperor, he had no money to reward his maids. However, Zhang Juzheng accumulated a wealth of jewelry, calligraphy and painting, and many beautiful women. He realized the yin and yang sides of "human beings" and was unwilling to have a "regent" standing beside him. After tearing up his teacher and whipping his corpse, Emperor Wanli began his own efforts to govern and realize his great ambition. Soon he discovered that there was no Zhang Juzheng in the world, and he was still bound by many constraints.
In the past, Zhang Juzheng did not allow him to practice calligraphy, and later in life, Shen Shixing did not allow him to train in the army. He can dismiss officials he dislikes and investigate them, but it is difficult to promote officials he likes, so that no one can become his confidant. He could make decisions on the memorials of ministers and could go beyond the provisions of the law, but he did not have the power to make laws; he could not reform the system to avoid conflicts, and his authority to make decisions was limited because he was regarded by his ministers as Yan An's laziness. He was weakening day by day; he could not command the generals, and there was no possibility of reorganizing the army on weekdays; it was difficult for him to step out of the palace, let alone leave the capital to inspect the provinces. The more he tries to work hard to govern, the result is that the bureaucracy becomes more corrupt and the laws and regulations become more lax; he has no decision-making power in the appointment and dismissal of personnel. You are the emperor, but you are struggling and unable to do the things you like to do.
He met a woman who truly understood him - Concubine Zheng. Huang Renyu said, "Being in love does not mean monopolizing the emperor's pillow... The reason why Zheng was able to win the favor of Long Live was not because of her shyness. Appearance, but because he is smart, alert, determined, and likes to read, he meets the emperor's emotional needs." Only this woman understood his loneliness and helplessness as an emperor and even dared to say it directly in front of him, "She saw through that although he was the emperor and rich in the world, he was actually soft and weak, and no one gave him anything. Sympathy and protection. Even his mother often regards him as a machine performing tasks, consciously or unconsciously, and ignores that he is a flesh and blood, impulsive and sentimental 'person' after all." She can read works and discuss life with him, and she is his confidante. In the Forbidden City, the palace compound, the emperor and his empress used to be in the shadows, worshiping the gods and Buddhas in the temples in the west, and sometimes praying together before the Buddhas.
He finally had a love of his own. He wanted to use the authority of the emperor to defend his feelings. He wanted to abolish the elders and establish the younger ones. However, the power of traditional morality was so great that the civil servant group continued to follow suit. The obstruction and long-term education made it difficult for him to realize his inner wish and he could not express it clearly. At the same time, he lacked think tanks with whom he could discuss secretly, and the loneliness in his heart spread like weeds.