Cai Xianqing immediately took action. After he understood the situation of the letter, he first went to visit several squires. What they said was always: "The new policy will be implemented, but it is not as radical as Zhenjiang, preparing to divide your fields. It is just to use the government's surplus wealth. Relieving some poor people and cultivating some wasteland will not affect everyone's interests. Besides, the king of Wanjun has already given permission, so let Wei Huai take advantage of the situation." These words to excuse Wei Huai really made the squires feel relieved. They regarded the New Deal as a scourge; in addition, it was Cai Xianqing's face, so he had to give it, so he reluctantly agreed, and no one could agree with him.
As for people in the government, Cai Xianqing only sent people to deliver letters, writing: "Wei Huaisi has been establishing a new policy for a long time, and the people will be happy to hear it. If he rejects it without reason, if a popular uprising is triggered, he may be held accountable. The sins of the princes cannot be borne. Now that the prince has not betrayed his faith, and the gentry has no reason to object, it is better to follow the trend and wait and see the situation." After looking at it, the dignitaries from all over the place also considered the pros and cons, and they agreed and became more determined. No longer want to oppose the New Deal.
Wan Heshun originally wanted to suppress the New Deal issue with the help of his subordinates, but unexpectedly, the memorial came to him without any resistance. Although a few officials raised objections, the dignitaries still approved of the academy's current actions. Wan Heshun had no choice but to swallow his anger and swallow this self-brewed bitter pill.
Although the government only made a temporary compromise, he felt that if the situation continued to develop like this, trouble would sooner or later occur. Wan Heshun did not leave after the meeting, but invited Hu Qi to the side hall to talk alone.
"Those officials were all promoted by me, and they kept claiming that they were my confidants. When big things happened, they all dispersed and each had their own agenda. It was... it was really a waste to raise them!" Wan Heshun threw down his sleeves in anger and cursed loudly.
Hu Qi quickly closed the door of the palace and stepped forward to persuade: "Since the prince has made his promise, he should implement it. Why should he regret it? The wine offered by the guards is nothing more than the views of corrupt scholars. We have the military power in our hands and will not make trouble for him."
"Having said that, if we keep this academy in Nanjing, there are endless hidden dangers." Wan Heshun sighed, stroking his beard, "We need to cut off the root of this disaster quickly and restore peace to my country."
Hu Qidao: "Since they want to defend themselves step by step, we should press forward step by step so that the other party has no chance to breathe."
"Tell me."
“While urging the states and counties to arrest the academy thieves and launch an offensive to encircle and suppress them, at the same time forcing Wei Huai to expand the new policy, if he does not agree, he will announce it to the people to bring bad name to him; if he agrees, he will announce it to the officials, Squire, arouse the panic in their hearts. In this way, naturally they dare not obey the academy, but they stand on our side. What does the prince think of this best of both worlds? "
Wan Heshun suddenly beamed with joy: "I didn't expect that Hu Shangshu actually came up with a strange plan! I didn't expect that a person who is usually amiable and peaceful would also learn to be evil! Okay, let's do it accordingly."
Hu Qi said sternly: "It is said that a fool will find something after all his worries, but a villain's sudden flash of inspiration is not worthy of praise."
The work of "planning and using Shou Tian" was carried out for many days, but Wei Huai and others found that even though it was a good harvest year, there was not much food or money left in the warehouse, which made people feel disappointed. After estimation, this money can only help more than 60 households of poor peasants, and the help to people's livelihood is very small. The highly popular New Deal is actually no different from the previous minor repairs. It brings such a huge sense of gap that Xia Yuanlong is stunned. shook his head.
After everyone calmed down for a moment, someone comforted them by saying, "No matter how small a mosquito is, it's still meat," and encouraged everyone not to be too discouraged.
But facts have proven that psychological comfort has no effect at all, and the people are not very satisfied with the fledgling New Deal. They had been waiting for a long time, having listened to Wei Huai's "Xing Yao" talk a few years ago, but now what they were looking forward to finally came, but it was still the same as before. But out of respect for Wei Huai, they didn't express any criticism, they just tacitly understood it.
Low morale is a good time for Wan Dang to intervene. Wan Heshun seemed to dress himself up as a righteous man who criticized the people and sent Hu Qi and several envoys to the academy together to question the common people about the Wen League's ineffective reform.
Wei Huai did not dare to neglect, so he could only welcome him happily: "Thank you, Master Hu."
"Mr. Wei," Hu Qi smiled and pulled his shoulder, "Hu has always admired your determination. However... recently, it seems that you have lost some of your energy."
Wei Huai raised his eyelids and immediately understood his intention. But he still felt that Hu Qi was easy to talk to, so he smiled lightly and introduced the latter to his seat.
"Ah, I won't beat around the bush and tell you directly," Hu Qi said with a worried look on his face, "Recently, the people's support for the academy has decreased. If you don't come up with a real new deal, you will keep making empty promises day after day. It won not only the hearts of the people, but also the hearts of all the lofty ideals of the academy."
Wei Huai was so ashamed by these words that he didn't know how to answer for a moment. Xia Yuanlong hurriedly came up from behind and retorted: "The government does not save money and food. After a year, there is no disaster or famine, but only a little is left. , it’s simply not enough misappropriation. At this time, the responsibility is placed on our executioners, don’t you think it’s inappropriate?”
Hu Qi said calmly: "The situation in each place is different. If I were in Nanjing, the palace city needed to be built, the Qinhuai River needed to be dredged, the market needed to be maintained, and the official salaries were high. In addition, His Majesty's southern tour in recent years has cost a lot of money for his residence. It will take several years to ease up. It would be good to have some excess now."
Yuan Long sneered and said: "The minister has been saying for a long time that the southern tour is unique here. However, the southern tour spent all the money at that time. What does it have to do with the money and food newly saved this year? Excuses are not so easy to find. .”
"I don't care," Hu Qi glared at him, then waved his hand, "We can't let King Wanjun bear this responsibility, right? Whoever came up with the idea of Ji Yongshoutian will be dissatisfied with the people. They won't count these with you. Three seven twenty-one.”
"There's no need to argue!" Wei Huai grabbed Xia Yuanlong, "If there is anything you can do about it, please give me your advice."
"You make the New Deal bigger and make the people happy. It's that simple. Don't tell me you can't do it." Hu Qi spread his hands.
"But Wan..." Wei Huai's voice dropped again as soon as he finished speaking.
"What happened to Prince Wanjun?" Hu Qi was a little unhappy. "Without Prince Wanjun, the plaque of the Political Participation Academy would not be hanging up. He has fully supported you, but he still wants to go further?"
Xia Yuanlong and Wei Huai looked at each other and both thought that the current situation was getting more and more difficult.
"Mr. Wei, please come up with an idea. Don't be so impatient. We have to go back to deliver the mission!" The messenger behind urged him sternly.
Wei Huai had no choice but to agree, "I'll do it for you."
