"May I ask if Mr. Cai is at home?"
Ye Yongjia stood in front of the house and knocked on the door several times, raising his voice to a higher pitch but trying not to lose his calmness.
After a while, I heard steady footsteps gradually coming from inside. When I reached the door, I stopped immediately.
"Who is it?" a voice that sounded like an old man asked without opening the door.
"I am Ye Yongjia, the son of Ye Long, the censor of Zuodu in Jinan. I have something to ask of you." He lowered his voice.
"Mr. Cai is very busy and not everyone can see him. If you don't have letters from a few familiar adults, you'd better go back quickly. Seeing as you're from out of town and don't understand the market, I'll explain it to you; if The local ones should have been scolded a long time ago!" As he said that, he seemed to be walking away slowly.
Ye Yongjia looked at Kou Zhong and saw that things were not going well, so they all left the alley and turned onto the street. "It's better to take your time for such a big thing," Kou Zhong said, "Master, there's no need to be impatient."
The further the two of them walked, the denser the crowd became. "It's a pity that I don't know where Mr. Wei is. It would be better to talk to him about old times." Ye Yongjia sighed, raised his head casually, and suddenly saw that the large open space in front of him was already crowded with people; the man walking beside him The porter also leaned on the edge of the port and raised his feet to watch. Out of curiosity, he pushed away a few people and squeezed into the crowd. He saw that everyone was surrounding an old stage. There was no one singing on it, only a few crowned Confucian scholars walking around in disorder. Suddenly he saw a carriage approaching from a distance, and passers-by gave way, so they stopped the carriage in front of the stage. Suddenly there was a clear cough in the car, and the Confucian scholars on the stage fell silent and lined up on both sides.
Someone walked straight off the stage, walked to the car, pulled the curtain, and was about to help him, but the person inside reached out his hand first, motioning for him to step aside; then he stretched out a cane and a cane, and then his body appeared. The man leaned on a crutch with his left hand and pulled his collar with his right hand. He turned his face sideways and couldn't see his appearance clearly, but he felt full of aura and majesty. In the eyes of everyone, he was like a god and Buddha who saved the world. Many pairs of eyes looked at him with reverence, and those shouting seemed to be paying homage to the figure of a hero.
In front of the chattering and noisy crowd, he limped across the stairs, and his face appeared impartially in Ye Yongjia's field of vision.
The handsome features and the piercing eyes immediately reminded him of this person's name - Wei Huai.
He was dressed in white clothes, breathed a sigh of relief, and then spoke loudly, his breath was sonorous and powerful:
"Everyone, my surname is Wei, and my name is Huai, but I am a Confucian in Nanjing. After observing that the laws have been abolished and the country is not prosperous, I have some opinions. Let me tell you!" He hit the ground with his cane and continued:
"I am determined to reform, and the first priority is to reduce taxes and servitude. Although this court keeps saying that it is light on corvee and low on taxes, once the court is in a hurry, it will exploit it. The livelihood of the world belongs to the capital, and the people have no right to independent decisions. It is taken by the court. The people couldn't bear the taxes, so they abandoned their fields and became refugees. The government counted 50,000 refugees. If this continues, there will be more than 500,000!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shouting, and Ye Yongjia also secretly applauded him in his heart.
"Therefore, according to a certain plan, the imperial court should establish the law of 'living within one's means' to save the country's resources, firstly, to prevent rampant corruption, and secondly, to prevent excessive exploitation. This is a truly good law. Some people may say that the legislation is like this, but as time goes by, it will be abolished. Yes, so I have some new insights."
He paced, and people's eyes quickly followed his footsteps.
"Academies are built in various places so that they can recruit talented people. If the government wants to do something, it will be judged by the academy. This is the academy system I am thinking about."
…
Ye Yongjia listened to him in the audience for a long time, but he never lost his energy. There was no moment of pause or hesitation. It can be seen that he really worked hard for this speech.
"If one of you people believes in my ambition, he will live up to my great statement. My ambition is that all the people in the nine states will know the new policy and be enlightened, and then the country will be peaceful and peaceful. .”
After finishing speaking, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, bowed to everyone, and walked down the stage; everyone cheered in unison like a roaring tsunami, and Ye Yongjia couldn't help but echoed; he wanted to run up to stop him, but in the crowd, Being crowded, it was difficult to move forward, so he and Kou Zhong had to retreat.
When Wei Huai returned to the house, it was almost night. He had been busy all day and felt tired, so he immediately entered the house and asked his servants to take his clothes.
"Sir, when it was still daylight, two people handed over a letter and said that they must let you see it." The servant came over with clothes in his hands, and Wei Huai took them easily, "What's your name?"
"The surname is Ye, and the name is... it seems to be Yongjia."
Wei Huai put on his clothes and said, "I actually taught this student. Bring it to me."
When the servant left the room, Wei Huai sat by the bed and trimmed his beard.
"Look, my lord."
The servant opened the letter and put the paper on the table. Wei Huai pressed it with his hand, picked up a corner, and looked at it slowly:
'Ye Yongjia of Jinan paid homage to Wei Huai of the Imperial Academy of Nanjing: Sir, he helped the people and saved the world. Even if you are a teacher for thirty years, if you pass through the door of a saint, it will be of great benefit. Quan now lives in Nanjing. I don't know where my husband is, and I can't find him. I'm almost worried. Fortunately, Mr. Wang preached in the market. I asked him about it and found out where he was, so I sent him a letter. If Mr. Hou comes home late to read the book, please choose a day to write about it, which will be a great kindness. Kowtow. '
"The pursuit is quite far." He sneered a few times, turned around and told the servant: "Ask where this man lives, and invite him to come to the house tomorrow to talk."
…
"Please," the servant smiled thoughtfully and greeted Ye Yongjia and Kou Zhong. The two of them saluted and walked to the living room, where they saw Wei Huai sitting upright on a chair, holding a cane in one hand.
"Ye Tinglong, I haven't seen you for a long time." Wei Huai still didn't smile. Ye Yongjia had never even seen him smile before.
"Mr. Wei, should I also call you Brother Jimin?"
"It's up to you." Wei Huai showed an indifferent attitude.
"Mr. Wei, you invited us here. Isn't this the etiquette of hospitality?" Kou Zhong said angrily.
"Who is that?" Wei Huai looked at Ye Yongjia.
"The slave in the mansion..."
"How dare you interrupt, my slave? I'm talking to your master."
Kou Zhong stopped talking dissatisfied.
"Why did you arrive in Nanjing?" Wei Huai raised his head and asked.
"My father died and his mansion was raided."
"Dead..." Wei Huai's eyes showed sympathy and a little surprise, but his tone seemed indifferent.
"The official position was gone and the Jinshi was taken away, so we arrived in Nanjing." Kou Zhong added from the side.
"Looking for Cai Xianqing?" Wei Huai glanced at Kou Zhong, who nodded.
"Why didn't you say it?" He looked at Ye Yongjia and immediately called the slave outside the hall: "Bring paper and pen!"
"Mr. Wei, you originally said you were Lu Fangxuan's secretary-general, why did you suddenly end up in the Imperial College? There are so many... people supporting you?"
"That was a year or two ago," Wei Huai said as he wrote on the paper. "At that time, Mr. Lu was still in Nanjing. He treated me very well and allowed me to serve as a wine sacrifice for the Imperial College; because I was good at talking about it everywhere. I also recommended several policies to benefit the people in terms of reform, so the people have some expectations of me, which is a good thing. Later, Mr. Lu was transferred by the emperor and appointed Duke of Jing, and Prince Wan Heshun took charge of the military affairs here. "
Wei Huai sealed the letter and handed it to Ye Yongjia: "This Cai Xianqing has always respected my name, and he is also a very interesting person. If you give him the letter, he will definitely come to see you and help you with something."
Ye Yongjia received the letter, and Wei Huai wanted to talk about the raid on Ye Mansion, but seeing that he was reluctant to mention it, he had to use his stick to watch them leave the house.
