Li Mengyang, a writer in the middle of Ming Dynasty, was the leader of the first seven schools of retro school. He is said to be a clown because he is the representative of the civilian spirit of the Ming Dynasty. He advocated that "literature must be in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and poetry must flourish in the Tang Dynasty", emphasizing retro, and striving to improve the popularity and praise of poetry in the Ming Dynasty among the people. Although the poems and songs of the Ming Dynasty can't be said to be secular compared with the charm of the poems of the Tang Dynasty, the civilian spirit of the Ming Dynasty still affects all aspects of art.
When Li Mengyang was a child, his family was very poor and was a typical civilian family. My grandfather and two uncles are not scholars, only my father is a vassal and a scholar. Therefore, Li Mengyang, who was born in the lower class, was still enlightened by literature when he was young.
In ancient times, if you don't have a good background, you need to succeed in the imperial examination in addition to your high ability. Li Mengyang himself is not from a scholarly family or a noble family, so his career depends entirely on his own talent and perseverance. At the age of twenty-one, Li Mengyang won the first place in the provincial examination. At the age of twenty-two, he became a scholar. Due to the death of his parents, Li Mengyang became an official at the age of 27. However, shortly after Li Mengyang became an official, he offended powerful people because of his stubborn personality, which led to his first imprisonment. Xu Jin's "Kongtong Li Cemetery Table" mentioned this matter: "The initial public tax has three levels and the legislation is strict. Please don't mind. Respect it, arrest it and find it. "
At the age of thirty-two, the wife and younger brother of the then empress Zhang, He Ling of Shouning, recruited rogues and ignored the people. Many people know Zhang's evil deeds, but those officials are afraid to go to war because he is the wife and brother of the queen and a noble and powerful person. Only when you are honest and know Zhang's evil deeds, you will immediately play impeachment. "So the secret of the play covered up the whole thing. Straw, sleeves over the edge, doctor (salute). When the person who presided over the meeting came, Wang Biao looked at his sleeve and said, "What can I do for you? You must warn the grass. "So far, that is, the wife didn't know, I don't know why the king is so suspicious. However, Cao Xian is the second son, and the king said,' If he is not here, it will be a great disaster.' ..... and sparse, don't report also, thought that did not report. One day, suddenly there was an imperial edict to take Meng Yang down and send him to prison. I knew Zhang had this statement. Zhang sentenced me to ten crimes, but she didn't want to be the queen mother, which shows that Zhang finally dismissed her. The imperial edict stipulates: "Li Mengyang falsely accused the minister, and his aunt was given a lighter punishment and fined for three months." This 18 year is April 16. "Zhang is extremely cunning. After learning that Shangzoushu impeached him, he immediately rushed to the palace, reversed black and white, and turned Zhang's crooked play into a queen. Instead, he wrongly accused Li Mengyang of disrespecting the Queen. This led to Li Mengyang's second imprisonment. Fortunately, the emperor still had some judgment, and Li Mengyang was released soon.
After Xiao Zong succeeded to the throne, Wu Zong succeeded to the throne and changed the Yuan Dynasty to Zheng De. During the period of Zheng De, the biggest problem was the eunuch eight tigers headed by Liu Jin. They dominate the state affairs, run roughshod over others, and framed loyalty. Many good officials who serve the country and the people were framed by these eight tigers, or were dismissed from office or died. At that time, Han, the head of the household department, led the minister to impeach Liu Jin and Ba Hu. This is the famous letter "on behalf of the disintegrated eunuch". Although the impeachment of eunuchs was ostensibly led by Koreans, it was actually planned by Li Mengyang. This incident also led to Li Mengyang's third imprisonment.
In the fifth year of Zheng De, Liu Fuzhu and Li Mengyang were released. Zheng De was fleeting, Li Mengyang recovered, and moved to Jiangxi according to the agreement of the inspection department, which is a four-product product. At the age of 40, Li Mengyang became an official with four qualities by virtue of his talent and perseverance. But when he arrived in Jiangxi, he didn't get along well with a group of Jiangxi officials, especially Shangguan. In this way, I was promoted for the fourth time at the age of forty, but it didn't take long for my promotion to come to the end of my career.
With a slight cold body, Li Mengyang served the country and the people wholeheartedly. No matter when he was an official or after he was dismissed from office, he fought against powerful people who endangered people's power many times. Therefore, although he was killed many times, he has a high reputation among scholars. After getting old, many scholars are very sorry.
Although Li Mengyang and Li Dongyang differ only in their names, they are actually not related by blood. The relationship between these two people can be said to be colleagues, but their friendship is far greater than that of colleagues. Li Mengyang admired Li Dongyang very early, and Li Dongyang also admired Li Mengyang. Li Dongyang's "Hou Manuscript" said on Volume 16 that "Meng Yang took the text as the first solution, entered the first subject, sharpened his name, and obviously saw Langbu." Therefore, the author suspects that there should still be a teacher-student relationship between the two! Although there was a gap between them in the end, their friendship did exist earlier.