It was already sunset when Yu Yunwen, Lu You and Wang Qi returned to Zhongdu City from Miyun County with their entourage, and the day passed just like that.
After returning to Sihaiting Station, many people from the Southern Song Dynasty envoys had not returned yet. It was not until dinner was put on the table that the people from the envoys returned to Sihaiting one after another. . .
Their faces were full of excitement, and they kept saying things like "Let's go to the night market in the evening." They were holding large and small bags of things, and they seemed to have bought a lot of good things from the market in Zhongdu City. s things.
However, Chen Kangbo, who came back with the crowd, looked unhappy and ate his dinner in silence. Then he called Yu Yunwen and Lu You to his room and had a secret discussion.
"Today's trip to the market surprised me. I thought that the Ming Dynasty's massive construction projects, major repairs of the Yellow River, and large-scale military deployment would have exhausted its finances and made it unsustainable. But when I saw the situation in the market today, I found that this was not the case. in this way.
There are many kinds of goods in the market, there are many shops, there are many street vendors, and there are many buyers. Although I don’t want to say it, it is indeed a picture of prosperity. Not to mention other cities, Zhongdu City alone is indeed It is as prosperous as Lin'an.
I personally purchased some goods and found that the prices are indeed relatively low, especially for food and clothing. Grain prices are much cheaper than in Lin'an, and there is no hoarding. This shows that the Ming Dynasty did not make any achievements in grain production. question. "
Chen Kangbo frowned, his face full of worry, and said: "Large-scale construction projects, major repairs of the Yellow River, and large-scale military deployment will cost a lot of money, and no matter how much you save, you won't be able to save much.
How did the Ming Dynasty manage to maintain such a prosperous situation despite using such money, and using such manpower and material resources without affecting agricultural production? How did they do it in such a dilapidated Central Plains? "
Yu Yunwen lowered his head and said nothing.
Lu You also lowered his head and said nothing.
The unusual behavior of the two people surprised Chen Kangbo.
"Why didn't you two say a word? What did you see when you went to the countryside of Ming Dynasty today?"
Yu Yunwen still didn't move.
Lu You looked at Yu Yunwen's appearance, thought for a while, and told Chen Kangbo what he had experienced today.
Chen Kangbo felt something was wrong when he heard half of it. When he finished listening to the whole thing, he was stunned on the spot and was speechless for a long time.
"Public education? Mengxuetang? Is this true?"
Lu You nodded.
"I saw it with my own eyes. It is absolutely true. There is no falsehood."
Chen Kangbo took a breath of air, and then his face was full of confusion.
"Why?"
Yu Yunwen, who had been silent, put his head in his hands and whispered: "If they popularize education, who are the disciples of the saints? Who are the followers of the saints? Us? Or them? Why do they do this? I can't figure it out. !”
Lu You was silent and didn't speak.
Chen Kangbo was speechless.
They are destined to be unable to answer this question.
They were too shocked to have a proper conversation.
It wasn't until the night before Su Yonglin decided to summon them that the three of them got together again and had some communication.
After the exchange, they decided what to say when they saw Su Yonglin tomorrow, what they could say, what they couldn't say, etc.
Anyway, basically Yu Yunwen and Lu You can just be mute. Unless Chen Kangbo is killed by Su Yonglin on the spot, these two people can talk. Otherwise, they will just be used as background and atmosphere.
Yu Yunwen was all right, but Lu You was a little unhappy.
But he didn't dare to say that he really wanted to talk to Su Yonglin face to face and ask why Su Yonglin decided to make such a ground-breaking move.
He really wanted to hear Su Yonglin say something more specific or more secret in person. He felt that if Su Yonglin said it in person, it would be more profound than what was written in the book.
But obviously this cannot be allowed by Chen Kangbo.
As a political advisor and a member of the Prime Minister's team, Chen Kangbo had a huge influence on the political situation of the Southern Song Dynasty. In comparison, Yu Yunwen and Lu You were at a much lower level and could not influence the decision-making level of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Moreover, what Chen Kangbo did must be on the side of the Southern Song Dynasty court, and there would be no situation where his buttocks were crooked.
So what else is there to say?
Lu You could only agree reluctantly.
So early the next morning, the main envoys of the Southern Song Dynasty envoys put on official official uniforms and followed Chen Guangyuan, who had come to arrange their audience, to the palace to prepare for Su Yonglin's summons.
According to the long-standing rules, the Southern Song Dynasty was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and its status was one level lower than that of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, when the envoys of the Southern Song Dynasty saw the Ming Emperor, they needed to pay homage with great ceremony, and the etiquette level used was even higher than the etiquette used when facing the monarch of their own country.
Regarding this article, Chen Kangbo was very critical. He felt that it shouldn't be like this.
But when he really saw the majestic and solemn Su Yonglin sitting in the Wanmin Hall, he still hid all the thoughts in his heart without revealing them at all.
There is no other reason. The power of the Wanmin Hall and the silence of the ministers and generals underlined Su Yonglin's supreme power as the founder of this country. The strong pressure made Chen Kangbo dare not even raise his head for a time. He felt that he had been spiritually affected. aspects of suppression.
How dare you show your dissatisfaction with this set of rules?
With such helplessness, Chen Kangbo moved forward step by step under Chen Guangyuan's instructions, and together with Yu Yunwen and Lu You, performed the highest-level worship ceremony to Su Yonglin and stated their names.
After the ceremony, they presented the gift list to Su Yonglin, saying that this was a gift from the Emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Min, to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Su Yonglin, and they kindly requested the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to accept it.
Chen Guangyuan, the minister of Honglu Temple who presided over the ceremony, took the gift list, read it aloud in public, and then presented it to Su Yonglin.
The gifts are nothing unexpected, including gold, silver, pearls, jade, calligraphy, paintings and antiques.
After a series of procedures were completed, formal inquiries in public also began. Su Yonglin symbolically inquired about Zhao Hao's health, inquired about Zhao Gou's health, and inquired about the health of their entire family.
Then Chen Kangbo sent greetings to Su Yonglin on behalf of Zhao Yu and expressed concern for Su Yonglin's health.
After ignoring these insignificant topics, Chen Kangbo began to tell the "real reason" for this mission.
"Our country has been hit by natural and man-made disasters such as severe droughts, floods, bandits and rebellions one after another. The country is exhausted and the people are poor. It is not uncommon for people to live without food. In view of this, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty sent foreign ministers to the country to implore the generals of the country. The necessary annual currency may be slightly reduced or the delivery may be postponed for a certain period of time to give our country a chance to breathe."
Chen Kangbo looked sincere and sounded sincere, as if this was the main reason for his mission.
Su Yonglin, who knew the root cause of their mission to the Ming Dynasty, did not have any psychological fluctuations.
So he didn't immediately give his reply. Naturally, someone would stand up and help him refute it.
Kong Maojie, who served as the censor of Youdu, stood up.
"What Chen Xianggong said is a bit strange. Severe droughts, floods, and rebellions were not suffered by these disasters in any year in the Southern Dynasties? Why can't they happen this year?
Furthermore, before the fall of the Jin Kingdom, in which year did the Southern Dynasty not give the Jin Kingdom annual coins? In which year were the annual coins exempted due to disasters? Such words may not be convincing, right? "
Chen Kangbo pays his respects again.
"The disasters in the past were not as severe as this year's. From last year to this year, there was a big bandit in our country who started on Jiangnan West Road. The court conducted many encirclement and suppression campaigns but was unable to achieve a complete victory. It consumed a lot of national funds, so much so that it had to embezzle annual coins to use them. To serve as military equipment, that’s why…”
Before Chen Kangbo finished speaking, Kong Maojie became "dissatisfied".
