"Uh..." Zhu Su was a little stunned.
What Wei Guan said just now undoubtedly reminded Zhu Su that this person had a pivotal position in the hearts of Jiangnan scholars.
Nowadays, the center of Beijing is in trouble. Hu Weiyong's case has implicated many officials, and it has a vague tendency to radiate to the entire Ming Dynasty officialdom and scholars.
There are even rumors that the Emperor of the Zhu family was born a commoner and had little education, but he hated scholars very much, so he found many unfounded crimes to find fault with those officials.
Enemies from all sides are still watching, and this rumor may have been revealed by some reactionary forces. Moreover, Lao Zhu also had a famous conversation with Zhu Su and Zhu Biao. Although he was determined to abolish Hu Weiyong and the prime minister system, he still wanted to maintain stability and did not intend to go on a killing spree like the four major cases in history.
In this case, Zhu Su should not act too sharply during this trip. At this time, he represents the attitude of the prince and the Zhu family. Since Gao Qi has great prestige among Jiangnan scholars, he can win over him with good words, and he can also let the panicked Jiangnan scholars know that the royal family is not hostile to the scholars, but just treats the situation differently. Look at His Highness King Wu, he treated Gao Jidi with great courtesy.
I just didn't expect that this "high scholar" actually didn't follow the routine at all. Zhu Su just said the sentence "I hope I will die of old age in the wine room, and I don't want to bow in front of the carriage". Then Gao Qi As if hearing some fairy sound, the whole person jumped up from his position.
He even approached Zhu Su directly and asked him to recite the entire poem!
"Ji Di, don't be rude!" Although Wei Guan and Luo Guanzhong were also amazed, they were not as surprised as Gao Qi to the point of forgetfulness. Wei Guan stood up, pulled Gao Qi back, and confessed to Zhu Su: "Your Highness, forgive me, this poetry idiot just got a wonderful line and lost his etiquette for a moment..."
"Your Highness, forgive me! Qi is really rude." Gao Qi also responded and said.
"It's just that your highness's sentence is really clever, quite like Mr. Wuliu! Qineng asserts that this poem will definitely have a place in our thousand-year Chinese poetry circle!"
"Why not recite the entire poem at this banquet, so that we can gain glory and leave our name in history?"
Although he confessed, he still remembered Zhu Su's poem and looked at Zhu Su with burning eyes.
Hearing the words "fame will remain in history", Wei Guan and Luo Guanzhong, who wanted to smooth things over, unexpectedly looked towards Zhu Su. Even Chang Mao, who was beside Zhu Su, also looked expectant. Looked at Zhu Su expectantly.
"Ashamed... This is really all I have to say..." Zhu Su said bravely. Tang Bohu's "Song of Peach Blossom Temple" despises meat eaters and writes about the spirit of living in poverty and enjoying the good life. But Zhu Su himself is now known to be one of the "meat eaters" at the top of the Ming Dynasty. If this poem is copied, wouldn't it be full of flaws?
"Let's not talk about poetry first, let's talk about the flood in Taihu Lake first."
"I am here to patrol for flood relief for my eldest brother. With such important responsibilities for our family and country on our shoulders, it is difficult for me to have the enthusiasm to write lyrics and recite poems..."
In order to avoid copying poems, Zhu Su directly moved out of the righteousness of his family and country. Once these words came out, even Gao Qi could no longer force Zhu Su to take the poem.
However, he still refused to give up, and did not forget to tell Zhu Su, "If he gets the complete poem in the future, he must remember to send a letter from Hongyan so that he can hear this eternal masterpiece as soon as possible."
"It's my incompetence. As the magistrate of Suzhou, I failed to control the flood, which made your majesty and the prince worried." When it came to business, Wei Guan's face became serious. He first raised his fist in the direction of Yingtian and said with shame.
"When I came here, I heard that the floods in Taihu Lake were ups and downs, and I saw that the city of Suzhou was still prosperous. But the floods are no longer serious?" Zhu Su asked.
"His Royal Highness Haojiao learned that floods in Taihu Lake have existed since ancient times. If we refer to this flood alone, it is actually not a serious problem." Wei Guan smiled bitterly.
"It's just that the city of Suzhou has three difficulties due to the flood. These three difficulties are the reason why I had no choice but to ask the imperial court to send people to Suzhou."
"Oh?" Zhu Su became interested and couldn't help but ask: "Prefect Wei, tell me, what are the three difficult things?"
"The first one is the flood itself." Wei Guan sighed.
"Not only the capital city of Suzhou, but also the counties under our jurisdiction are suffering from extremely serious floods."
“Not just around Taihu Lake, but also in places such as Kunshan and Wuxian County, countless farmland and houses are destroyed by floods every year.”
"Especially Kunshan County, which is under the jurisdiction of this government, suffers from floods every year. As long as there are floods, almost the entire Kunshan County will be submerged in water. The people in Kunshan County can only make a living by begging."
"Is it so serious at this time..." Zhu Su frowned. He had also seen the name "Beggar Kunshan" when reading history books in later generations. I remember reading a book written by a great master. The protagonist Ritian’s father became the county magistrate of Kunshan. Ritian helped his father build a dam with cement to control floods in Kunshan, and he won the support of the whole county.
Brother Ritian has cement, and I also have cement. If he can build a dam, I will naturally be able to build a dam too. This first problem doesn't seem to be a big problem.
Zhu Su then asked: "Where is the second one?"
"This second incident is about the people's support." Wei Guan, who originally wanted to explain the flood problem in detail, was stunned and had to follow Zhu Su's words.
"His Royal Highness Haojiao learned that this Suzhou city was Zhang Shicheng's home base a few years ago."
"Everyone in the world knows this. But so what?"
"Is there anyone in my world who has not been liberated from the hands of Meng Yuan and those troubled warlords in the past few years?" Zhu Su asked curiously.
"Your Highness, please listen to me in detail. If it is taken from Meng Yuan, it is actually fine." Wei Guan smiled bitterly.
"Zhang Shicheng has no great ambitions and is not a wise master. But he is very good to the people in Suzhou City."
"When His Majesty besieged this city in the past, the people gave their hearts to help Zhang Shicheng defend the city. When the city was defeated, His Majesty was extremely angry and immediately issued an order to punish the people of Suzhou. As a result, the taxes in Suzhou City were higher than those in other places in the Ming Dynasty. a bit……"
As Wei Guan spoke, he glanced at Zhu Su secretly.
"Is there such a thing?"
Lao Zhu also issued such a decree to Suzhou? Zhu Su understood Wei Guan's intention in a flash. The fundamental reason why he used the flood incident to report that he wanted to call Prince Zhu Biao to come for inspection was because he wanted the prince to blow off Lao Zhu, so as to abolish the "harsh policy" of raising taxes in Suzhou.
This Wei Guan is a rare parent-official who thinks about the people.
However, Lao Zhu's decision was not something Zhu Su could comment on. It should be noted that Suzhou was a rare and wealthy place in China when Zhang Shicheng was there.
At that time, Lao Zhu still wanted to pacify the world and conquer the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in the north. Now he also had to guard against the Mongolian Yuan's counterattack. The country left by the Mongolian Yuan was riddled with holes. Lao Zhu needed to find ways to repair it in many places. Money and food are always the top priorities. Perhaps Lao Zhu's decision to impose additional taxes on Suzhou, a prosperous place, was based on financial and food considerations.
There was nothing wrong with levying more taxes in wealthy places and less levies in poor places. There will be different levels of personal income tax for future generations! Lao Zhu did not directly send troops to rob or massacre the city, which was very rare in such troubled times.
However, in Zhu Su's view, it is better to impose "increased taxes" on certain wealthy households, like the personal income tax of later generations. It should be noted that although Suzhou is a prosperous city, there are also poor people. It does seem a bit too overbearing to blindly raise taxes throughout Suzhou.
(End of chapter)
